The Wanted
by Coldspark16A
Summary: In a world where magic is frowned upon, Natsu fights to exact revenge on the Council and the Kingdom. They took what was special to him, he plans on making them pay. Powerful Natsu; Some OOC, if not a lot. Based off of FT with ideas from hundreds of other stories. [NaLu]
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome! So to give you all some overall understanding, this is my first fanfic. This is actually the first time I've written any stories, so please bare with it. Additionally, I do not have a lot of time to write, but I've been working on this for a couple of months and finally decided to post it instead of just keep it to myself. I'm going to go ahead and apologies for the irregular updates.**

 **Generic Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Fairy Tail is the creation of Hiro Mashima.**

* * *

 _Breathe. Relax. Hold it. Focus. Now!_ He released the arrow, watching it soar between the trees heading towards its mark. Suddenly, a tree branch came out of no where smacking the arrow to the ground.

"Damn ents" he muttered as he quickly grabbed his quiver and retreated from his cover hoping that the ent wouldn't pursue him. The sound of earth being uprooted and branches snapping, made the young archer curse under his breath as he increased his pace. _I need to get to the cliffs! SHIT!_ He yelled in his mind as a stray root caused him to trip and tumble across the forest floor. He could hear the sound of moving roots get closer with every second.

 _I was careless, if it wasn't for my stomach I would have spotted the ent before risking the shot on that deer._ Scurrying to his feet, he continued to move through the underbrush, forcing the rising panic out of his mind. _Can't panic now, panicking will only get me killed. Come on, the cliff is only another 500 meters._

The sound of snapping branches constantly grew louder, he was sure that if he looked back now he would see trees toppling over behind him. _As the protector of the forest, ents sure caused a lot of damage to them_ , he mused in his own thoughts as he burst forth from the forest and onto the rocky cliff side.

Only losing his momentum for a second, he scanned the cliff for his extraction gear. Spotting it at his 10 o'clock, he hurried towards it, no time to waste as he knew the ent would be on him within seconds.

He grabbed the arrow out of his kit, this one was different than his regular wooden shaft arrows, the tip and shaft was one piece of steel. Stringing the arrow into his short bow, he pointed the arrow down towards his feet. Releasing the string, he was satisfied with the sound of the arrow lodging itself into the cliff top. Grabbing the rope attached to the arrow, he threw it over the cliff and started to lean himself backwards over the edge, right as he was in position a massive tree broke through the edge of the forest and into the clearing. The ent paused looking for his prey, but the young man didn't want to wait and be spotted as he quickly jumped off the ledge and began his rappel down the cliff face .

He wasn't more than 10 feet down when a giant branch like hand brushed across the man's head. Looking up, the image of the ent swiping its giant branches at him was enough to cause his heart to skip a beat. Shit, these things are hideous up close! At least I'm outside of his reach. He continued his rappel down the 100-or-so foot cliff face. He assumed it was 100 feet since his rope was only about 100 feet long and it stopped a couple feet from the bottom.

 **Crack!**

 _What was that?_ He looked up just in time to see a tree hurling down towards him. "What the fuck!" he shouted as the tree shot passed him, and he watched it as it splintered apart against the rocky shore below him. "Did that bastard just jump off the-" he was interrupted as a boulder zipped past him, he's throwing stuff at me!

The trapped climber tucked himself under a small jetting in the rock face, hoping and praying that it was just large enough to protect him from the thrown projectiles that were being hurled down from above. _Is he ever going to run out of stuff to throw?!_ Just as that thought passed though his mind, he noticed nothing was zooming past him anymore. "Huh, it's almost as if I willed it away with my thoughts."

Again,right on clue his head hit the overhang he was hiding under and he bounced off of the rock face. _Am I falling?!_ he thought as his heart stopped, No! I'm not falling, that bastard is pulling me back up!

He struggled for his knife, I need to cut myself loose! It was too late though, he was now swinging just in front of the ent's face, staring into its abyss like eyes.

The ent released a deafening roar. Lifting the rope over his head, he swung the rope with his prey and brought the man crashing down onto the top of the cliff. The man instantly went limp. The ent lifted the rope again, but this time threw it over the edge and watched the lifeless man fall into the bone chilling water below.


	2. Chapter 2

**So I just realized how to put author notes in these things, so I apologies for the updated chapters. They aren't really updated, I'm just adding notes in now.**

* * *

Something's _burning... why can't I move? Damn, my body aches all over, why can't I move? Why can't I open my eyes? What's going on! What was that... it's a voice, I can't make out where it's coming from... what language is that anyways?..._

 _Man, my body hurts... why can't I move... why can't I see?! Wait... didn't we just go over this? What the hell! I fell asleep again didn't I, thats the third time... and that's only the ones I remember! This is different than last time, feels like I'm on something that's moving. Oh hey! I think I have movement in my fingers again, not much but it is a start..._

 _I must have fallen asleep again. Still can't move much, still can't see... wait, I haven't even tried opening my eyes this time... but why get up, what ever I am laying on is pretty comfortable, strange, last time it felt like wood boards, is someone moving me?! Oh no! I'm a prisoner aren't I! Why would you be a prisoner, you aren't in Fiore? A slave maybe but not a prisoner. Let's focus here, you're suppose to be trying to open your eyes! I know, I know... good thing I'm the only one who can hear my thoughts, people would think I was crazy for arguing with myself..._

 _Ok, lets see where I am, hmm... can't really see anything, wait, is that canvas? Canvas? Tent? Ok, so I must be in a tent. Slowly, the young man was able to open his eyes and stiffly move his head taking in his surroundings. Let's see, what's that? Backpacks? Three backpacks, and two sleeping pads? That doesn't make sense, wait, no that's three sleeping pads, cause I'm on one. Ok, so three people share this tent, I wonder how many other tents there are. Are the friendly? You would think so, since it doesn't feel like I'm in shackles. My head feels like it's been bandaged too, so they must have been taking care of me. I wonder if I can move..._

As he attempted to sit up, his ears finally picked up the unintelligible murmurs that had filled the background. Using his arm to prop himself up some, he strained to listen to the voices that were outside the tent. The language may have been unintelligible, but he did pick up that the voices he was hearing now, were the same voices from one of his earlier conscious endeavors. _Why can't I understand them? Are they speaking a different language? No that can't be it, I know some of the words that they are using. They are talking too fast! That must be what it is!_

While lost in his thought, he failed to notice that the flap to the tent had begun to open, and a girl with short white hair was standing in the door way. He didn't notice her until her scream brought him back from his thoughts.

"AHH!" came the female shriek.

"Ah!" the startled archer responded.

As quickly as she had appeared, she was gone, but not completely as the noise outside the tent intensified five fold. Fearing for the worst, the young archer started to scramble around, looking for anything that he could use to defend himself, all the while ignoring the protest that screamed from every muscle in his body. Before he could find anything more than a leather bound book, he heard the flap open again and a large barrel of a man entered the tent followed by two women, one of which was the short haired girl from before.

"Ah! Don't hurt me! I didn't do anything!'' the outnumber man yelped as he tried to hide behind the leather book. _What are you doing?! Are you cowering behind a book! That's not like you! You are a fighter, not a hider!_ his mind screamed out at him in response to what his mind deemed as a despicable reaction to his attempt to defend himself and prevent further harm. _Eh?_ He slowly opened his eye closest to his new company, wondering why they didn't strike. The first thing he noticed was the giant ape like man yelling something, but he could only understand the last word "MAN!"

The second thing he noticed was that all three of the intruders, _wait? Are they actually intruders? I mean this is probably their tent, so wouldn't that actually make me the intruder? Snap out of it!_ The second thing he noticed was that the three people, better?, all had the same color hair, white, but none of them looked very old. In fact, the girl from earlier actually looked younger than him, not by much, but maybe two years or so.

 **SMACK!**

Stunned, he turned his head to face the direction that the attack came from as pain began to radiate through his cheek. Again, unintelligible words except for a few that he could make out, "... you stare... my sister, you... pervert." "...MAN!" The dumbfounded look on the man's face as he looked up at the older female that loomed over him with both of her hands on her hips, seemed to take her aback a little. He quickly glanced at the other two in the tent. The man was flexing his arms over his head and kept yelling, but all he understood for the most part was the loud, "MAN!" that seemed to find it's annoying way into every sentence. The young girl, however, refused to make eye contact, but he could tell her face was a light shade of red.

"Are... are... you ok?" he questioned.

The young girl was slightly taken aback, but nodded vigorously, face turning slightly redder.

 **SMACK!**

"Hey! I was talking to you!"

 _Interesting, I was able to understand all of that._ "Huh?" came his response as he turned his gaze back onto his attacker.

"Are you stupid or something!"

"... Who are you?" completely ignoring her previous question.

"We should be asking you that," she responded a little kinder, but you could still hear the venom behind her voice. When she didn't get a response from the young man, she finally straightened herself so she was no longer looming over her idiotic guest and returned to where the other two were standing, "We are the Strauss Family, and that is all you will know about us until you tell us what your name is."

"The Strauss family? But there are only three of you, and none of you look old enough to be her parents," as he pointed to the short haired girl, "which would mean, you are all siblings," he continued, rising to his feet. He might be knew to the environment, but his keen eyes and observation helped his mind piece together the different clues that laid strewn across the tent. For example, the largest backpack that sat along the side of the tent, "You must be Elfman, the only male in this trio," he stated while looking at the ape man.

"How did you know there were only three of us in this camp?" inquired Elfman.

"I never said there were only three people in this camp... I simply stated there were only three of you all in your little group, but thank you for confirming that no one else is around."

"You idiot, keep your mouth shut!"

"And you, must be the oldest of the three, as you are obviously the leader," the archer added as he turned his attention back to the long white hair girl who had just snapped at her brother.

"Anyone could deduce those facts from this situation, your observation isn't that spectacular. Quit being so confident in yourself." The oldest sister, turned her attention back to the stranger in front of her. The look in her eyes told him that she was much more alert and steeling herself in order to not give any more information away. Her body however betrayed her it obviously warned the archer of an impending attack.

"Hold on now, no need to get so worked up. I have no intention of fighting in front of the young beauty," he stated as he lifted his hands up in front of himself, giving a non-combative demeanor. "What was your name again?" He focused on the young girl who was visibly shaken from all of the commotion and the angry vibe that her sister was obviously giving out. "It was Lisanna, right? It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you," trying to comfort the timid girl.

"How... how did you know my name?" she asked blushing again, obviously taken aback from hearing her name. "I... I never gave you my name..." she trailed off.

"Oh, no, your name was written on this journal," he stated holding the leather book that was in his hand out to the girl. "Just by looking at you three, you are the only one that I can see keeping a journal," giving the girl a big smile, and even a bigger one when he saw her blush. _Dang, how much can one girl blush?!_

"So are you going to tell us your name, or am I going to have to beat it out of you?" spat the girl who's name still remained unknown.

"What's it to you if I give up my name or not? Just because you gave me your last name doesn't mean I am obliged to give you mine." _Why am I being so difficult? All they want is my name. I've never acted like this before... maybe it's the aggressive vibes that I'm reading from her, or the fact that I'm sure my face has been plastered all throughout the kingdom. I'm sure if the little cutie asked though, I would give it up without a problem._ He stood there on the other side of the tent with his arms folded across his bandaged chest.

The oldest growled and suddenly jumped towards her target with every intention of beating the name out of her snot nosed prey, just like she claimed she would.

 _She's attacking, I didn't want it to come to this... or did I? Block with left forearm, block with right forearm, both hands down to block her right knee, opening spotted, lean in and push against the torso and force her back!_

The little spout was short lived as the archer effortlessly blocked every attack and pushed the attacker into her brother. The archer straightened himself, the disappointed expression from a boring fight etched on his face.

"I said I wouldn't hurt her," he stated cooly while nodding towards Lisanna, "I never said I wouldn't hurt you," he finished, his voice sounding as cold as steel.

"Why you-" came the reply as the warrior righted herself and prepared for another attack.

"Stop it!" came a small voice as Lisanna jumped in between her sister and the mysterious man that appears to have taken a liking to her. "Please... stop it. There is no need to fight... is there?" adding the last question in there as she looked up into the man's face. "Will... will you please give me your... your name?"

"Natsu... Natsu Dragneel," he gave a toothy grin to the white haired vixen. _Ha, I was right, I would willingly give my name to her. Happy owes me a fish! Weird._ "I'm sorry about that, it's just... it's been awhile since I've been in the presence of other humans, and I forget how to act civilized sometimes."

* * *

 **So if any of you all are confused, Natsu is a very OOC. I always believed that the anime and the manga didn't do him justice, so I may have made him a little powerful... maybe a little too powerful, but too late now right?! If you are thinking he isn't that overly powerful, just wait until the later chapters.**

 **Also, if you think this story is progressing too slow, I agree. Writing this story was killing me because it was going too slow, but if I just did one chapter that was extremely long just to get to the action, then it would be months between updates. So, I'm just going to continue with irregular updates.**


	3. Chapter 3

**If you can't tell by now, I have no set update schedule. I have a bunch of chapters ready to publish, just have to proof read first. Usually, I will upload a new chapter based off how my day went. Sometimes I get back after 12-15 hours of work and just want to call home, other times I feel like uploading a publishing a chapter before falling asleep. All that to say, a new chapter could be published a day or two later, or up to a week apart. Sorry.**

* * *

She sat there, perched on her boulder by the side of the river, questioningly watching Natsu. "What are you doing?"

"I'm training," he briefly stated.

"How is that training? All you've been doing for the last hour is sitting there on a rock in the middle of the river. I mean, it's no different than what I'm doing, and I'm not training!"

With a visible sigh, the young man opened one eye to glance at the lady sitting on the shore, not fifty feet away. She's practically been by his side ever since he woke up a little over a week ago. He didn't mind having human company for once, but it made training difficult when she constantly wanted to try what he was doing or distracting him by always wanting to talk about the weather, and the flowers, and who else knows what, he kind of just started grunting in agreement with whatever she said.

After a few seconds, he closing his eyes and returned back to his previous position, cross legged with his hands crossed in front of him and his palms flat on the rock, face tilted upwards as if soaking up the sun.

Finally, becoming irritate with the young man, Lisanna picked up a small rock and lobbed it at Natsu, trying to get his attention, "Hey! I'm talking to you. Oh shoot!" She cried out as the rock headed for Natsu's head. Without as much as batting an eye, let alone opening one, he merely leaned forward, letting the rock sail harmlessly over him, and then returned to his upright position.

"How... how did you do that?!"

"Once you train your senses to understand the sounds and smells that nature makes, you can avoid danger without seeing it, simply by sensing something is out of place," Natsu stated with mage-like wisdom.

Still baffled by what she had witnessed, "Can you teach me how to sense danger? Please, I'll do anything!" Lisanna pleaded.

"I'll show you what I can, though I doubt we will have enough time today to even start. Meet me here tomorrow when the sun rises."

"Oh thank you! I'll definitely repay you for this!" Lisanna squealed, as she bounced up and down.

"Head back to camp, Lisanna, I'll be there shortly."

"Ok then, don't be long!" Lisanna cried out as she turned on her heels and happily skipped away from the river bank, merrily humming to herself.

Natsu watched after her as she left, and when he was sure she was far enough away into the woods, he let out a small puff of smoke as he sighed.

"What do you want? Am I really worth that much for you all to be monitoring me every day and night?" Natsu whined to what appeared to be no one in general. As he stood up from where he sat on the rock, he turned to face the opposite direction in which Lisanna had disappeared into, "It's not polite to ignore someone when they asked you a question. So, I will ask one more time, what do you want, Lahar?"

As if summoned this time, a rather tall but slim man materialized out of the forrest and onto the bank. "Now that's no way to greet a member of the Council, Natsu. You should show a little more respect for those superior to you."

"You aren't a member of the Council, you're just a henchman," Natsu retorted.

"I might not be a member yet, but once I bring Org your head, I will be promoted to a council member for sure," Lahar growled, readying to fight.

"Now, now, lets not get ahead of ourselves," Natsu stated, waving off Lahar's aggression towards him nonchalantly, "I haven't done anything deserving to be beheaded, and if you attack an innocent citizen, things won't turn out to well for you," Natsu's expression and tone of his voice now showing a small mischievous side.

"I may not have solid proof that you are directly behind the attacks, but it's only a matter of time before you screw up. And never call yourself a citizen, you wretched outcast of a monster!"

"Be careful who you call a monster, cause one of those monsters may just have fangs," Natsu growled, giving Lahar a view of his fanged like canines.

With that, Lahar disappeared almost as quickly as he had appeared, melting back into the forest, and after a few minutes, Natsu could no longer sense Lahar's presence.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading, hopefully the next chapter will keep you all interested and coming back for more. Leave a comment, it makes these long, hot days in the sand easier.**


	4. Chapter 4

**So, it's been awhile since I've checked these chapters to see when the action starts. Again, sorry for those who wish I cut through the introduction part and just cut straight to the part that makes the summary and the story match. Sorry, but I'm not. We will get there soon enough. In the meantime, enjoy.**

* * *

Natsu arrived back in the little clearing that the Strauss family had pitched their little camp in the day prior. The Strauss sister's were over at a makeshift table beside their wagon preparing food, and Elfman was on the far side of the clearing chopping wood, yelling about being a man every time he swung the axe. Upon making his way over to the sisters, Lisanna looked up from her cutting board and smiled broadly at him.

"Welcome home, Natsu!" Lisanna gleefully cheered.

"This isn't his home, Lisanna, he's just traveling with us for a few days," chided the oldest sister, Mirajane, or Mira for short, "Speaking of which, why don't you make yourself useful for once and go grab firewood and start the fire."

"Sure, whatever," Natsu rolled his eyes as he made his way over to Elfman. "Hey, Elfman, how are things going? Mind if I grab some of this firewood?"

"Firewood is MAN!" bellowed Elfman. "Where have you been? Off doing MAN things with Lisanna again today?" Elfman asked, only to shortly go wide eye with realization of what he just said. Turning briskly towards Natsu, "You didn't did you?" He continued hurriedly, and slightly threatening. "You didn't do MAN things with my sister, she is too young to do MAN things! I'll kill you if you ever do MAN things with her!" Now he was waving the axe around in a slightly violent manner.

"Whoa, slow down there Elfman! Lisanna and I didn't do anything, promise," Natsu defended himself with his hands raised in front of him, attempting to sooth the angry giant. "Lisanna and I were just down by the river. I was doing some training and she simply watched from the bank."

Relieved, Elfman finally relaxed, mumbled something about Natsu not being a man, and returned to cutting more logs in half.

Natsu, slightly confused about Elfman's change in tone about him not being a man, ignored it and asked Elfman again, if he could take some of the wood to use for the fire.

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead and take some, just be a MAN and don't burn the camp down."

Setting the wood down near the fire pit, Natsu arranged the wood so that he could get the fire started. After setting the wood up in the fire pit , he glanced round to see what everyone was doing.

 _Elfman is still cutting wood and isn't paying attention, and what about Lisanna and Mirajane? Still prepping the food, Mirajane has her back to me, Lisanna could see if she looked up. I'll just position myself between her and the fire pit._

Natsu shifted his body, blocking Lisanna's possible view of the fire pit. He then lifted his hands to his mouth, positioning one fist in front of the other, and softly blew into the fire pit.

Lisanna, who was quietly watching Natsu every now and then since he returned, noticed Natsu's glances and the way he shifted two feet to the left. Shortly there after, she could see the fire alight as Natsu stood up and observed his work.

"Natsu is really good with getting the fire started," Lisanna pointed out to her sister, who was peeling potatoes across the table from her. "He is always able to get the fire going within minutes, I remember it taking you a better part of an hour."

"Oh shut up," Mira moaned, "Something isn't right with him. There's no way he can get a full fledge fire going like that, I wonder what his secret is. Well at least he is useful for one thing"

"Why don't you like him?" questioned Lisanna, putting her knife down. "Is it because he is stronger than you? Because you've never lost before and he pushed you aside like you were nothing?"

Mira glared darts at her sister, "I didn't lose, you stepped between us before I could beat him into the ground, that snot nosed brat." Mira returned her attention to the potatoes.

"So it is because he is stronger than you," Lisanna smiled as she went back to cutting the vegetables.

"I don't like him because there is something extremely suspicious about him. There is too much of the unknown about him and he isn't telling us anything about who he is, or where he is from. We are traveling with a complete and total stranger."

"Well, why don't you just ask about him," interrupted Elfman, as he made his way over from the massive woodpile he had finished cutting. "I'm sure he would open up a little more now that we've been traveling together for about a week. Besides, it's not like we've opened up to him either. Everything he knows about us, he has figured it out on his own."

"Will you all just shut up! If you want to get close to him, fine by me, but he is leaving first chance there is," spat Mira, as she looked over to Natsu, who was feeding more wood into the fire. "Anyways, go wash up Elfman, dinner will be done in about an hour," as she put the remaining ingredients into the pot and took it over to the fire.

"Dinner will be ready in an hour, why don't you go find something to do," Mira addressed Natsu.

"Huh? Oh, yeah sure, in that case, I'll go take a nap."

Natsu walked over to his backpack where his bow and quiver laid. After grabbing his equipment he walked into the woods about 25 meters, just far enough so he was out of site from the clearing, but close enough to be back if needed. He restrung the bow, he always took it apart for storage purposes, and grabbed an arrow with a thin twine tied to it. He notched the arrow, aimed it towards the top of the trees, pulled the string back slightly and shot the arrow so that it arced over a branch about 10 meters overhead. Taking the loose end of the twine that was mostly still sitting at his feet, he tied a much thicker rope to it. He then grabbed the end of the twine that was connected to the arrow and pulled on it until the thick rope had crossed over the branch and made its way back down and into his hands. Shouldering his backpack and storing his bow and arrow, he grabbed both ends of the thick rope, bringing them together and began climbing the rope until he pulled himself onto the branch. Out of habit, he then coiled up the long rope and shoved it back into his bag, leaving no sign that he was 30 feet up in the trees.

Natsu unstrings his bow and after packing it away, ensuring that it was available for quick access. He leaned against the tree and shut his eyes, quickly falling to sleep and into his dreams.

* * *

 **Yeah, so Natsu has some weird habits, but what do you expect from a guy who has been living in the woods the majority of his life?**

 **Also, I know Natsu is missing a certain feline, and I know it says that it is a NaLu story. Again, we are getting there. Also, I try to do the best I can on having the story follow Natsu's POV. Maybe I'll through another POV in a later chapter, can't just always do Natsu right?**


	5. Chapter 5

_Standing on the edge of a hill, he saw his town below him, or at least what was left of it. How long had he been out playing? It couldn't have been more than a couple of hours, could it? How did this happen? Who, who did this to my home?_

 _Calling the town his home was probably a stretch since he didn't actually have a home, he was just lucky that the town folk took care of him and would take turns letting him sleep on their floors when it was cold or raining out. He loved the people of the small town, ever since he showed up when he was 7, they had taken care of him for the last 5 years._

 _A shimmer of light outside of town on the opposite side caught his attention. His keen eyes were able to focus in on the shimmer and he could make out the distinct banner of the Council._

 _The Council had sent its army and destroyed the town, but why? What was their reasoning? Why was the stench of blood in the air? His 12 year old mind didn't want to think about it, but he knew what the smell meant. It was the same smell when he was 6, living in the small village of Tuly. The Council had been there too, the Council slaughtered everyone that infamous day. That was when he learned that Gran Doma, the Chairman of the Council at the time, was after a young mysterious child. Why was Gran Doma after a child? Natsu didn't know, he was only 6._

 _Natsu had fled the village with a handful of other children from Tuly, while the adults fought off the army, but in the end Tuly was burnt to the ground. Just like Tuly 6 years ago, the town of Mone was now burning._

 _Natsu made his way through the burning town, the flames and heat didn't bother him, fire had never burnt him before. There wasn't much he could do though, no one seemed to be alive but there was a lack of bodies to be found. Sure he came across some bodies, but not enough to account for the 700 some residents that lived there._

 _What was that noise that he heard? It sounded like a crying child. Where was it coming from? Natsu made his way through the burning streets as fast as he could, but slow enough so he could track the cries. For once he was happy for his over sensitive ears, however he was starting to feel sick from the constant smell of blood and burning flesh, curse his overpowered nose. His over sensitive senses were a blessing and a curse._

 _Finally arriving in front of the burning house where he believed the crying was coming from, Natsu made his was towards the broken window and looked in. It was difficult to see through the flames, but after a minute he was able to see a small child hiding in the corner, clutching onto her doll._

 _He went to the door and tried opening it. The door handle was warm and the door wouldn't open more than a few inches, something was blocking it. He pushed his shoulder against it, opening it a few more inches. Flames were licking around the door. Even if he did get the door open, the fire would burn the girl on the way out._

 _Natsu made his way back to the window. The situation was getting worse, the girl's crying was getting weaker and she was coughing more. He didn't see any other doors. He backed away a couple of feet, took a running start and jumped through the window, shattering what was still hanging on to the frame. He rolled to his feet and dove over a roof beam that had collapsed. He quickly made his way over to the corner where the girl was now laying, gasping for air. She looked up at him, stretching out her hand. He took it and lifted the girl up to her feet and tried walking her back towards the window he had jumped through moments ago._

 _The girl was too weak though and continually collapsed after every attempt to rise to her feet. He sat her back down, propping her up against the wall. Looking around for anything to help carry her out, he found nothing. He was starting to panic, his heart began to race and he could no longer think straight. He was worried that the girl was going to die, the only person he knew left in the village was going to die because he could save her._

 _Realizing his growing panic, Natsu begin trying to calm himself, knowing that panicking now wasn't going to save the girl. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he felt warmth surge around him, shocking him into opening his eyes. Fire and smoke had begun moving towards him. As soon as he stopped breathing, the fire and smoke returned to their previous state of wildly flowing around them. Whatever caused him to come up with what he did next he wasn't sure, but for some reason, he felt like it would work. With that final thought, he started to suck the air in, like he was drinking. To his surprise, the air and smoke started moving into his mouth and the fire was disappearing too. It took him a second to realize that the fire wasn't just disappearing, but he was actually eating it. He was eating the smoke and fire, and was feeling great!_

 _After what felt like an eternity, but was probably only a minute or two, the smoke and fire was gone, and their path was clear. He turned back to the girl, who was looking up at him wide eyed. He simply grinned as he scratched the back of his head. Reaching down and picking the girl up, he placed her on his back and carried her out of what remained of the smoldering building. He then made his way out of town and towards the hill he had been on previously._

 _"You... you can put me down now," came the soft voice of the girl who was still riding on the fire eater's back. "I'm feeling better now."_

 _"Huh? Oh, uh, no it's okay. Just rest right now, I'll put you down once we reach the top of that hill in front of us."_

 _"Oh... ok."_

 _After a couple of minutes, the girl spoke up again. "You ate the fire."_

 _"Yeah," he paused, "I'm not really sure how I did that. I've never done that before, and I don't know why I thought of trying to eat it either. I can make sparks when I snap my fingers, but I've never eaten fire." He was afraid of what the girl was going to think of him. He was scared that she was going to think he was a freak, or a monster, which would make sense after what he had just experienced._

 _The girl however seemed to just except the fact and simply stated, "Oh."_

 _They arrived at the top of the hill and he squatted down to let the girl off. After he felt her get off, he turned to face the girl he had saved. She had blond hair tied up into pigtails, brown eyes, and was wearing a pink dress, a charred pink dress._

 _"My names Natsu, what's yours?" extending a hand towards her in an attempt to put her at easy._

 _"Lucy," shyly informing the boy before taking his hand._

 _"Well Lucy, it's nice to meet you," giving her a big toothy grin. "I haven't seen you around here before, are you knew?"_

 _"What? Oh no, my father dropped me off while he went to the next town to do some business. But I guess he didn't talk to the lady, cause she wasn't home. One of the maids let me in, but then left about an hour later."_

 _Over the next couple of hours, Natsu had made his way down to the smoldering town looking for survivors, or supplies, really anything that he could find useful. Upon returning from his third trip into the town, he had brought some food for Lucy._

 _"It looks like most of the people left the town before the army arrived. Which is good, it means that we can probably find friends in some of the other towns," Natsu stated optimistically as he dropped a backpack in front of Lucy. "Here, I found some food, you should eat before we start walking."_

 _"We're walking? How far? It's already late, the sun will be gone soon," Lucy whined._

 _"We still have about 2 to 3 hours of daylight left. Thats enough to get us to the next town. Besides, we can't stay here, I'm sure some bad people will be here before morning to steal from the town." Natsu was already packing the backpack up and securing two sleeping mats to the outside of the pack, all of which he had found during his trips to the town. He handed some dried bread and cheese to Lucy, then he got up and put the backpack on. "Well, ready to go?"_

 _Lucy stood up from where she had been sitting, nibbling on the bread and cheese, she nodded her head and reached one hand out to the boy. Natsu grinned, took her hand, and started leading her into the forest on the other side of the hill._

 _"We aren't taking the road?"_

 _"Nope. This way is faster and we don't have to pay money, like we would if we used the road."_

 _"But what if we get lost?"_

 _"Don't worry, I know the way. I spend a lot of time playing in here with my friends."_

 _Natsu led his new companion through the woods. Their movement was slower than he was used to, and before he knew it night had befallen them._

 _"I'ts dark. I can't see anything. Can we stop please? I'm scared."_

 _"Huh? Oh... yeah, I guess we can stop. I'm sorry, I didn't know you were so far behind me." Natsu states while straddling a log that he was climbing over, looking back to see the young girl a good distance behind him._

 _"Where are you? I can't see you... Natsu!" Lucy cried out while hugging onto the tree next to her so she wouldn't get lost._

 _"I'm right here. What you can't see me? Hold on, I'll come get you."_

 _Natsu finally slid off of the log and made his way to Lucy, stepping over roots and down branches effortlessly. His keen eyesight was almost that of an owl's, if not the same._

 _Finally arriving to the tree that Lucy was latched onto, Natsu reached out and rubbed her shoulder._

 _"It's ok, I'm here. I'll get a small fire going, just sit here on this log ok," he tried comforting her as he led Lucy to a nearby down tree. "I'll be right back, going to get some wood."_

 _"Oh... ok... please don't be long." She whimpered, as Natsu released her shoulder and moved away._

 _A few minutes later, Natsu returned to where he had left Lucy._

 _"Lucy? Lucy where are you?" Natsu started glancing around trying to find any sign of where his blonde hair companion went._

 _"Natsu? I'm... I'm right here," came a response behind the log, at the same time a little head popped into view. "I'm sorry, I heard noises and got scared, so I hid."_

 _"Oh," Natsu sighed in relief. "No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left for so long. Here let me get a small fire going."_

 _He laid the firewood that he was carrying down and then began assembling the small sticks into a teepee shape. Afterwards, he took some of the larger logs and built a little box around the teepee, the shape resembled that of a log cabin. Once complete, he grabbed a leftover stick and used it to spear some leaves onto it. Holding the stick in his left hand, he brought his right hand up towards the leaves, and snapped his fingers..._

 _"OH!" came a surprised gasp from a few feet left of Natsu, as small sparks briefly lit up the surrounding area._

 _"Haha, yeah it startled me the first time too," laughed the fire creator, as he snapped his fingers again and again trying to get the leaves to catch._

 _Finally the leaves began smoking, at this, Natsu began to slowly blow on the leaves, providing oxygen to the smolders. Flames burst forth from the leaves and Natsu placed the stick into the awaiting fire pit. After a few seconds, the small dry wood had caught fire and began providing light and warmth for the little girl._

 _"That is really useful, you know, being able to make fire and stuff," commented Lucy as she came out of her hiding spot._

 _"Haha yeah... I've been trying to create actual flames but can't yet."_

 _"How did you learn to make sparks though?"_

 _"Not really sure, I was arguing with a friend about who could run faster, and I don't remember what I said, but I snapped my fingers, and sparks came out. We were really shocked."_

 _"What did your friend do?"_

 _"He tried snapping his fingers but couldn't get any sparks. Finally, he got so mad he stomped his foot and it got frozen to the ground. It looked like it was the same thing with me, except he shot ice out of his feet."_

 _"Wow! That's really weird," Lucy cooed as she had finished eating a small snack that Natsu had given to her at the beginning of the conversation._

 _"Yeah, too bad he moved away," Natsu concluded as he unravelled the two sleeping bags. "We should get some sleep," Natsu observed as the girl yawned, "We will continue in the morning."_

 _With a good night exchanged between the two, they drifted off to sleep next to the fire._


	6. Chapter 6

"Natsu! Natsu, where are you, it's time to eat!" came a voice from the campsite.

"Where did he go?" the manly voice carried through the air.

Natsu groaned as he began waking up, just wanting to fall back to sleep.

"Hey, wake up! And why are you in a tree?"

"Just five more minutes, Lisanna," moaned Natsu, having been found by the younger girl.

"Come on Natsu, dinner is ready. I'm surprised you didn't come back earlier, it smells delicious!" Lisanna cheered with a bright smile looking up at the tree, with her arms tucked behind her.

Out of reflex, Natus took a quick whiff of the air in order to catch even the faintest smell of food. Instantly, Natsu was fully alert. His sudden motion caught Lisanna by surprise as bark rained down on top of her.

"Hey! Watch it!" Lisanna covered her head reflexively. Looking back up at Natsu, she could see something was bothering the young man, as he appeared to be constantly sniffing the air and looking around. "Uh... Natsu? Are you ok?"

"Oh shit!" Natsu cried out as he grabbed his bow and quiver and jumped from his branch to the one adjacent to it. The shaking of the branch caused his backpack to fall out of the tree.

Three throwing knives embedded themselves into the tree where Natsu had occupied seconds before.

"Lisanna, go back to the campsite! Warn the others!" Natsu shouted as he attempted to string his bow. It was taking longer than usual.

Lisanna was to busy screaming and running back to her brother and sister to even hear Natsu's commands.

Natsu finally strung his bow in time to dodge the next set of knives. By reflex, he rolled to the left, rolling into the tree and falling off of the branch. A couple of smaller branches helped break his fall and slow him enough as he grasped onto each one and swung himself to the ground, landing with roll to cushion his sudden descent.

Coming out of the roll, Natsu grabbed an arrow from his quiver and strung the projectile. His keen eyesight allowed him to lock onto a figure as he jumped from branch to branch about two hundred feet away. Natsu quickly released the arrow, aimed ahead of the figure. As anticipated, the man jumped into the arrow's path, embedding it into his thigh. The man stumbled off of the branch he had aimed for and fell to the ground, slamming into the ground chest first, legs bending behind him only to swing back, snapping the arrow and impaling it the rest of the way through his thigh as his legs came to rest on the ground.

A scream behind him had Natsu running back to the campsite, already readying another arrow. As he emerged at the edge of the clearing, he saw his three camping partners backed into the side of their wagon and a second assailant approaching them with a machete. Mirajane was trying to defend her family with a frying pan.

Quickly, pulling the string back and taking aim, the second arrow soared into the back of its intended target. A gurgling scream escaped the assailant as he fell to the ground, an arrow in his heart.

Natsu, sighed in relief and barely caught the scent of a third person. Turning, he hadn't heard the man approaching behind him, but it was too late, all Natsu could do was block the sword with his forearm. The force of the blow knocked Natsu to the ground. Propping himself up on his left arm as the man swung his sword a second time. Swiping his right leg across the ground, Natsu caught the assailant's feet and brought him tumbling down on top of him. The struggling didn't last long though, as Natsu swiftly grabbed a knife from the man's belt, effortlessly plunging the knife's six inch blade through the man's armpit and into his heart.

Natsu humphed a little as he rolled the corpse off of him and let himself up, brushing the dirt off his clothes. Looking up, he took in the site. Honestly, not much had changed around the campsite; there were now two dead guys, a flipped table with some food on the ground, a chair or two knocked over, a crying girl, her brother trying to comfort her, and then the last female slumped to the ground while limply holding the frying pan in front of her.

"Well, that was unexpected." Natsu stated nonchalantly. "Is everyone ok?"

"How... you... You just... They just..." words stumbling out of Mirajane's mouth, never creating a coherent sentence, as she looked up at Natsu. Tears had begun forming in her eyes as all of the events came crashing down on her, her shock starting to subside.

Natsu had made his way over to Mirajane, kneeling down and taking a hold of one of her shoulders. "Hey, Mirajane, stay with me now. I'm going to clean this place up," referring to the two bodies, "Can you get the food ready, I think we are all pretty hungry."

With that, Mirajane refocused on Natsu, nodding her head as she came out of her daze. "I... I can do that. It will be ready when you are," and with that Mirajane rose to her feet and moved to where the table and chairs had been knocked over.

Natsu, seeing Mirajane was back in control of herself, somewhat in control anyways, he turned his attention to Elfman and Lisanna. Duck walking the five feet to where they were holding onto each other, Natsu laid a hand on each of their shoulder.

"Hey now, no need to cry anymore its all over, everything is ok and no one got hurt."

Lisanna let go of her brother and threw herself into Natsu's arms, "I was so scared! I didn't know what to do, we just all froze and then you came!"

Natsu wrapped his arms around the crying girl, doing his best to comfort her, he was never really any good with people crying. "Now, now, it's ok. That's why I'm here, to protect you all. Please stop crying." Looking up, he gave Elfman a pleading look.

Taking the hint, Elfman reached back over and peeled Lisanna off Natsu. "Come on sis, lets go wash up before dinner." Lisanna allowed her brother to lead her away to wash the tear stains from her face.

 _Well then, time to get rid of these bodies._ Natsu hoisted himself up and made his way over to the first body, picking it up before moving to the second one. After hoisting the two bodies onto his shoulders, he made his way back into the woods.

After about thirty minutes had passed, Natsu returned to the clearing. Everyone was sitting around the table, quietly whispering to each other. Once Mirajane noticed Natsu had returned, everyone became silent.

If it wasn't for Natsu's keen hearing, he probably never would have noticed the sudden silence, but he knew what they were discussing and he knew what answers they were wanting. To ready himself, he took a deep breath and made his way over to the table.

"Hey, I'm back, sorry it took me so long."

"It's... it's ok. Here, we left you some." Lisanna said, as she handed him a bowl of stew.

"Ah, thanks! I'm starving!" Natsu cried out. "Mmm! This is really good Mirajane, I wish I could cook like this!"

"Oh, um... you're welcome," Mirajane blushed as she was taken aback. It was the first time Natsu had ever complemented her. "I'm glad you like it."

"Natsu! You're injured!" Lisanna shouted, while pointing at the injured arm.

"Huh? Oh, I didn't notice. Must have been when I blocked that sword," Natsu stated nonchalantly. "Oh well," and with a shrug of his shoulders, Natsu went back to eating.

Silence befell the Strauss family as they watched Natsu finish his bowl of stew. As he reached to help himself for seconds, Elfman broke the silence.

"That was very brave of you Natsu. You were a true man and saved us. You protected us when I couldn't. You are a true man indeed."

"Huh? Oh, no worries. I'm sure you would have been able to protect everyone, I just got lucky and caught them by surprise." Natsu tried to reassure the dejected man, giving him a big grin.

"I don't know Natsu," Mirajane piped in. "Those two guys weren't your ordinary highway thugs. The were trained by the Kingdom."

"What? That's absurd, why would the Kingdom send a group of guys out to attack random travelers?" Natsu argued, hoping that they would believe him and forget about who those three worked for.

He knew that they were from the Kingdom. He confirmed it after he carried the bodies away and searched them. He had found the parcel of paper with his name on the authorized hit list and the Councils crest imprinted into the wax at the bottom.

"Besides, just because they appeared to be trained 'killers', that doesn't mean that the Kingdom is involved. They could just be former soldiers or something," Natsu concluded.

"If they weren't from the Kingdom, then why did they have this?" Mirajane questioned as she brought a dagger out from under the table, stabbing it into the table top in front of everyone.

"They found it, or they robbed one of the Kingdom's camps. I don't know, but just because they had a knife with the Kingdom's cress on the hilt, doesn't mean they work for the Kingdom."

"Look more closely, Natsu," but Natsu didn't need to look closer, his keen observation skills already took in the dagger, and he knew what she was hinting at. "It's not just the cress of the Kingdom, it has the cress of the Third Legion as well," Mirajane finished.

"So?" again, Natsu tried playing it off and wanting to change the subject, ending the unwanted interrogation. "Where is my bag? Did I leave it in the tree?" Natsu was trying to get out of his chair, but Elfman's hand quickly pulled Natsu back down into his seat, "Hey!? What's the meaning of this?!"

"Natsu, the Third Legion is the most brutal and versatile unit in the Kingdom, they report directly to the Council. They are the most veteran and feared force in all the land, you don't just steal or find something that belongs to them." Lisanna stated in a tone with a hint of fear in it.

"Exactly, and you took out both of them without any trouble," Mirajane added.

"Actually, he took out three," Lisanna interjected, "there was one more in the woods before he came back to the camp."

"Three?! You killed three Legionnaires without as much as a scratch on you? That's manly!" Elfman billowed.

"Uh, hello, injured arm! I think that would constitute as a scratch." Natsu stated to no one in particular as he rolled his eyes and placed his forehead into one of his hands.

"The fact that they were operating in a group of three, practically confirms that they are from the Third Legion." Mirajane continued before anyone could question what she meant, "Everyone knows that the Third Legion is made up of one hundred teams of three individuals each!"

"Eh?" "Really?"

"Well apparently not everyone," Natsu gestured to the younger Strauss siblings. "By the way, you do know an awful lot about how the Third Legion operates. Usually, information like that is classified." Natsu narrowed his eyes onto the eldest of the three.

"I learned it from a friend of mine, Erza, Erza Scarlet, she is actually a member of the Third Legion. She is part of one of the stronger teams, team four I believe." Mirajane answered defensively, waving her hands in front of her, trying to calm Natsu, who became stiff almost to the point of menacingly. "If I remember correctly, your team number correlates to how strong your team is compared to all of the other teams, with team one being the strongest and team one hundred being the newest, or weakest team."

Natsu had became stiff, not because he feared Mira was a part of the Third Legion but because of the name she muttered. He had seen the famed, Erza Scarlet, in action before, from a distance luckily, and he knew of her capabilities, she was one fierce swordsman. She was actually the master at quite a few close quarters weapons, varying from nunchucks, to swords, to spears. Natsu had never faced her, or her team though thankfully.

"I think the other two members' names were Sagittarius, well his last name is, I don't know his first name, he is a centaur, and the last team member was Freed, he also uses a sword, or I guess it is actually called a rapier," Mirajane continued, becoming more comfortable with the topic as she was lost in thought. "Erza says that though she has teammates, she prefers to work alone, and so do the other member of her team." Mirajane beamed happily at the others.

"Anyways... " Elfman added, trying to get back to the interrogation, "Even if the guys we came in contact with today was the weakest team, they still should have been more then enough to accomplish their mission. Again, how is it that you ended up winning so easily?"

"Look, like I'm sure I've said before, I've lived on my own for a couple of years now. I've lived out in the wilderness, fighting off mother nature and everything she has to throw at me in order to survive. I got lucky in this fight." Natsu stated rather harshly as he rose again from his seat, and seeing as they were about to start questioning him again, he added, "I'm sure you all have a lot more questions, but they are going to have to wait for another time. We need to get out of here before they send someone to see why these three haven't checked in."

With that, the group started breaking down camp and packing their items back into the wagon. Natsu returned to the woods in order to retrieve his pack. At least, that is what he told the others, he had already moved his pack just outside of the clearing, but he actually wanted to check on the three bodies again. Before he even arrived to where he had dumped the bodies, he already knew that they were gone, they always were. There was no longer a strong smell of death, but there was a new smell.

As Natsu rounded the bend in the natural footpath, he confirmed what he already knew. The bodies, in fact, where missing and a piece of parchment was stuck to the tree with a dagger. Natsu wasn't surprised, and it wasn't because his nose told him before he could see it. It wasn't the first time Natsu had killed a hit team from the Third Legion, and it wasn't the first time there was a backup team sent to secure the bodies if they failed. He had known the presence of the second team, ever since the first attacker, but it went against his morals to attack someone if they did not pose a threat to him, or in this rare instance, the comrades that he traveled with.

Upon tearing the parchment away from the tree, he quickly read what was scribbled on it:

 _Salamander, your actions against the Kingdom, as well as the Council, have been documented and will be reported to the highest of authorities. It is in both your's, and your comrades', best interest to turn yourself in, before any of your loved ones get hurt. The longer you remain in the presence of innocent civilians, the more you put them at risk. Do what is right, and turn yourself in, for the good of the Kingdom.  
Ultear Milkovich  
5th Captain of th.._

Natsu didn't finish reading who wrote the note, and with a flick of his wrist, the parchment exploded into flames He stood in place for another second before he turned to head back to camp. He had taken no more than two steps, before he froze. How could he have been so careless and let down his guard. He hadn't even sensed their presence.

There standing not twenty meters away, was the Strauss family.


	7. Chapter 7

**Ok, so sorry about that. I seemed to have posted out of order. This is the actual chapter that was suppose to go here, so all who read the other chapter, well I guess you will be a little disapointed on Sunday. I apologize for screwing that up. I might just go ahead and leave that next chapter up though.**

 **So to clear some things up incase anyone is confused, if an entire chapter is _italicized_ it means that it happened in the past and is meant to give some back story to the plot. There will be more 'cause honestly, I like writing the past more than the present.**

 **Last thing, if you have any questions or comments please leave a review and I will see what I can do for you.**

* * *

"F-F-F-Fire..."

"The paper, it just burned with a snap of his fingers..."

"He's one of them..."

Natsu was still kicking himself for not being more careful, but this wan't knew to him. He could easily slip past them, grab his gear, and be on his way. He released the breath he hadn't noticed that he was holding, he steadied himself for what would come next.

"You, can use magic," Lisanna whispered.

With a heavy sigh, Natsu looked down at the ground and replied, "Yes."

"Those three were after you then weren't they?" Mirajane questioned.

This time Natsu just nodded his head.

"Were you ever going to tell us about your ability to use magic?" again it was Lisanna.

Looking up, Natsu met the family's stern gave with one of his own. "No."

"You put my sisters in danger, and you knew this could happen!" Elfman roared, "We could have been killed, all because of you!"

Natsu was ready for this, this is what happened every time people found out about his magic. First they went into shock, then they got angry, after that, they got physical, and then lastly, they would hate him. There were only a few that never reacted how he expected them to, but that was when he was younger, and most of the time, they were other magic wielders.

Natsu was taken by surprise at what happened next, Elfman had charged at him out of anger for putting his sisters in harms way. That part wasn't what surprised him though, that he expected. What surprised him was the fact that Lisanna had moved from her spot as well, but she didn't attack him, in fact, she moved herself between her brother and Natsu. Lisanna was standing a mere foot away from Natsu, with her arms spread wide trying to stop her enraged brother.

Lisanna's efforts, however, did not stay the furry that was her brother as he came barreling down upon the two. Calculating the speed of Elfman's approach, with the distance that remained, Natsu quickly deduced that even if Elfman tried to stop, his momentum would carry him to 3.7 meters behind him.

Natsu slid his arm around Lisanna's waist and deftly jumped five meters backwards with the help from his magic to give him the extra push. Just as Natsu had calculated, Elfman came to a halt a meter away, three tenths of a meter closer than predicted, but close enough.

"Elfman! Stand down!" came Mirajane's order.

When Elfman was no longer blinded by his rage, he finally took in the scene around him. It had registered too late in his mind that his kid sister had moved to defend his target, and there was no way for him to change his momentum. If it hadn't been for Natsu, Elfman would have seriously injured his sister, but here Natsu was protecting her. Lisanna's courage gave way at the very end, and she had turned to Natsu for protection. Now here she was, holding onto Natsu for dear life while he pulled her in close and gently calmed her down, paying no mind to the man before him.

Seeing that he had put his family at risk, the very same thing that he was trying to attack Natsu for, Elfman hung his head, muttered an inaudible apology, and then fled the scene heading back towards the wagon.

"Lisanna, can... can you come back over here please," Mirajane's voice pleaded with her sister.

Even if Natsu didn't pose an immediate threat to her family, Mirajane still couldn't help but feel what Elfman felt. Betrayal.

The Strauss family had taken Natsu in after they found him washed ashore, barely alive. They had nursed him back to health and allowed him to travel with them for weeks now. They had trusted him all this time, never knowing that the man they took in had put them all in danger from the moment they decided to put him inside their wagon.

Natsu, hearing the pleading in the woman's voice, nudged Lisanna and pulled her arm distance away.

"Come on now Lisanna, your sister is calling for you." Natsu gave her a big grin and sent her back to Mirajane. "Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, I was only trying to protect you all. I had no intention of staying and traveling with you but I've missed being with other people, I just couldn't pull myself to leaving. You should be safe now though, cause after I'm gone, no one will be coming after you."

"I can't just let you go. I have to turn you in, now that I know what you are," Mirajane moved Lisanna behind her.

Mirajane positioned herself into a fighting stance. Natsu cocked his head to the side and lifted an eyebrow as he watched her.

"You really think you can bring me to the law?" Natsu straightened himself. "You couldn't lay a hand on me even when I was injured and not using my full abilities. Let alone, I just took out a team from the Third Legion, without magic mind you, and all the while, you shivered away in the corner. Do you really, honest to god, believe that you can take on the Salamander?"

The whole time Natsu spoke, he created little flames to spark around his body, and to add extra emphasis to his name, Natsu burst into flames, or to be more accurate flames engulfed his body as if they were just another part of him. Slowly, walking towards the girl frozen in place, Natsu continued.

"By all means Mirajane, go ahead, try and take me. The Kingdom and the Council have been at it for years now, and look, I'm still a free man. Do you even know why they are after me?"

"It... it doesn't matter why... why they are after you!" Mirajane did her best to keep the trembling out of her voice. "It's the law, and... and as citizens we... we must uphold the law." Mirajane shied away from the intense heat that Natsu put off.

Natsu had moved steadily closer while she spoke, stopping mere feet from her, glaring down on the girls as they shied away from him. What felt like an eternity for the girls but mere seconds for Natsu, Natsu extinguished his flames, and walked passed them.

"I would really like to see you try," Natsu mumbled as he passed them.

"Huh?!" came the shock from the Eldest as she spun around and watched after Natsu.

"I have no intention of harming any of you. Never have and never will, as long as you don't become my enemy," Natsu waved one hand back at them. "I'll be going now, have a safe journey."

With that, Natsu disappeared into the woods, leaving the Strauss sisters behind. He still needed to grab his gear, which was inconveniently left back towards the camp. As he arrived to where he previously hid his equipment, he quickly gathered it and shouldered his pack. Before he stepped off though, he could hear the sound of someone crying, they weren't the manliest of tears, but he instantly knew who it was.

"Hey, there's no need to be crying."

Elfman practically jumped out of his skin as he came crashing down after falling off of the log he was sitting on.

"How did you sneak up on me?!" Elfman shouted.

"Sneak up on you? I've been standing here for almost five minutes trying to figure out what to do! You're the one sobbing so loud, a train could have come barreling through here and you never would have noticed! Now quite crying and man up!" Natsu shouted.

"That's easy for you to say, you didn't hurt a loved one," Elfman picked himself off the ground and dusted himself off.

"You're right, I didn't, but neither did you. Lisanna is fine, not a scratch on her. You were just doing what you believed was right, that's all. Now stop the waterworks and go back to them. They need you now more than ever." With that Natsu turned and began walking away.

"Where are you going?" Elfman called after him.

"Away. I don't want to put you all in danger any longer. Maybe one day our paths will meet again, in the meantime, take care of your loving family, they truly are special."

With a final wave, Natsu was hidden in the trees. It hadn't been for too long, but being with the Strauss family rekindled the flame that had been dying within his soul, but now, he felt alive again. Too long had he hidden from those who had hurt his loved ones, too long had he strayed from his path, too long, but no longer. Natsu was ready to get back everything that the Kingdom and the Counsel wrongfully took from him.


	8. Chapter 8

**STOP! Go back and make sure you read chapter 7! I posted out of order but now it's fixed!**

 **So, since I'm the one that messed up and posted chapters out of order, I'm going to go ahead and leave this one up and I'll still post a new chapter on Sunday. It just means I need to hurry and write some more. Again, sorry for the confusion, and yes this is a flashback. _Italicised_ chapters are in the past.**

* * *

 _"Hey, we are going to make a quick stop before we get to the next town," Natsu smiled back at the young blonde girl._

 _"Where are we going?" asked Lucy as she stepped over a fallen tree._

 _Natsu simply gave a bigger grin, "You'll see!"_

 _It only took a little less than an hour to get to the their new destination._

 _"Wow! It's so cool!" cooed Lucy as she stared up into the trees. "Did you build this?"_

 _Lucy was now looking at the boy standing in front of her with one hand behind his head and the biggest grin she had ever seen stamped on his face._

 _"Yeah! I had some help though," Natsu gleefully exclaimed. "Come on, let me show you the inside!"_

 _Natsu ran back over and grabbed Lucy's hand before turning and leading her towards the treehouse. It wasn't much, but for two kids a large wooden box structure hanging twenty feet in the air was practically a World Wonder._

 _"It took some time, but after we got that large board balanced on those branches there," Natsu pointed straight up to show which branches he was talking about, "the rest just kind of fell into place!"_

 _"Wow, so cool!" Lucy let out._

 _"Yeah, I know, you already said that, Weirdo," Natsu added the last bit with a small laugh._

 _"Hey now! I'm not weird, you're the one who lives in a tree," Lucy stuck her tongue out at the laughing boy before asking, "How do we get in? I don't see any stairs or ladders."_

 _"Oh, that's the fun part!" Natsu exclaimed excitedly, and with that, Natsu a deep breath before putting two fingers into his mouth and whistled loudly._

 _"What are you whistling at?"_

 _"Just wait for it," Natsu used his hand to brush her question away, never taking his eyes off of the treehouse._

 _Lucy returned her gaze skyward wondering what was to come next. Suddenly, a blue little fuzzball popped it's head over the edge of the treehouse._

 _"What's that?!" Lucy asked excitedly, pointing at the little head that was staring down at them._

 _"That? That's our way up," Natsu smiled at Lucy, before turning back to the blue fuzzball. "Happy! We need a lift!" Natsu exclaimed motioning to Lucy with his last statement._

 _The blue fuzzball tilted his head to the side, looked at Natsu, then to Lucy, then back to Natsu before disappearing above the ledge._

 _"Uh, do you think he understood you?" asked Lucy._

 _"Of course he understood me, he is just a little shy sometimes," the pink haired boy answered, "Just give him a second."_

 _Lucy was half expecting the little fuzzball to toss a rope or something down over the edge. What she was not expecting was for the little blue fuzzball to jump off of the ledge._

 _"Ah! He jumped!" Lucy shouted with surprise._

 _Instead of falling though, the blue fuzzball glided over them. Natsu couldn't help but laugh at the poor girl's shocked expression._

 _"Nah, he just has to get a running start sometimes!" Natsu stated it matter-of-factly as he was looking down at the shocked girl who was still on the ground._

 _"You're flying!"_

 _"How else am I to get up here? Hold on." Natsu turned to something that was out of Lucy's sight as he settled onto the floorboard of the treehouse, "Okey, go get her next."_

 _With that, the blue fuzzball again leaped from the treehouse._

 _"Ah!" screamed Lucy as she closed her eyes once she felt her feet leave the ground._

 _"Hey, it's okay, you can open your eyes now," Natsu soothed the frightened girl as he rubbed her arms._

 _Natsu watched as Lucy peaked one eye open and looked around before finally relaxing and opened her other eye._

 _"How did I get up here?" was the first question the girl asked._

 _"Happy!" smiled the pink hair boy._

 _"Huh? Happy?" Lucy cocked her head to the side confused._

 _"Aye!"_

 _Natsu couldn't help but laugh when Lucy's eyes grew larger with the last statement. The look on her face was too much when she looked down at her feet and saw the blue fuzzball standing there with his right paw extended in the air._

 _"Ca... Cat?" Lucy looked back up at the laughing boy while pointing down at the blue cat._

 _"His name is Happy, he can fly," Natsu explained through his fits of laughter._

 _"How can a cat fly?" questioned the shocked girl. "I can't believe it."_

 _"Wait, you'll question a cat flying, but not a boy eating fire? You really are a weirdo," laughed the boy._

 _"What?! You ate fire!" shouted Happy as he now floated in front of Natsu's face, his wings effectively blocking Lucy from Natsu's view._

 _"Haha, yeah, long story though, I'll tell you about it later buddy," Natsu patted Happy on the head._

 _"Promise?" Happy questioned as he moved to sit on Natsu's head. "Who's the girl?"_

 _"Oh! Right! Happy, this is Lucy, Lucy this is Happy," gesturing to the respective person, or cat, during the introduction. "And Lucy, this is our home," Natsu continued as he took a step back, gesturing to the treehouse._

 _"Come on! I'll show you around," Happy stated as he pulled the pink boy's hair, causing Natsu to turn and walk in the direction that Happy wanted to go._

 _"Oi! What do you think I am? A puppet?" shouted Natsu, sounding annoyed but never fighting against it as they gave Lucy a tour of the three room treehouse._

 _"Well, that pretty much sums it up!" Natsu stated while looking around seeing if they had forgotten anything. "You've seen the bedroom."_

 _"Where you have a hammock to sleep in, instead of a bed," interrupted Lucy._

 _"Hey now! It works great, unless you need to get out really fast," Natsu trailed off at the end. "So bedroom, storage room, and this room," he concluded as he motioned to the room they were in, which was at least twice the size of the other two rooms put together._

 _The room they were in had hammock like chair, some pillows piled up on the floor, a stone slab which was three by three foot square and was about two inches thick. The slab had a stone pillar on each corner, which supported a matching but much thinner stone tablet. The room also had a wooden makeshift table and chair sitting in the corner._

 _"What's this for?" Lucy was pointing at the stone slabs._

 _"That? Thats for cooking. We put the fire in the middle of the bottom slab and the fire heats up stone on top which cooks our fish," Natsu proudly explained to Lucy. "Hey, stop drooling on my head! I was simply telling her what it was for, I didn't say we were going to eat any fish right now!" Natsu exclaimed pulling a drooling Happy off of his head._

 _Lucy couldn't help but laugh at the scene that played out in front of her, "And you said I was weird."_

 _"Gosh Happy," Natsu exhaled as he placed the blue cat onto his pillow bed. "Anyways, this is our home and I think Happy would agree with me if I said, that this place could be your home too."_

 _"Eh?" Lucy scrunched her eyebrows in confusion._

 _"I mean, I'm sure you have a family and everything waiting for you in the next town, but if you ever need a place to call home, or to run to to be safe, you are always welcomed here," Natsu concluded with his signature grin as he ran a hand through his hair._

 _"Thanks Natsu, I'll do just that. If I ever need a safe home, I'll come straight here," Lucy returned a genuine smile. "Anyways, since it's already late, should we just sleep here tonight and continue to the next town tomorrow?"_

 _"Huh? Oh yeah, we will stay here tonight. Just like a real family," Natsu smiled._


	9. Chapter 9

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE ESCAPED AGAIN!" the man's voice boomed.

"I mean, the squad that was sent to retrieve him failed." replied the soft voice of a woman.

The grumpy old man that spoke earlier was staring down the slender woman who was standing at the podium in the middle of the courtroom.

"Ultear, you better have a good reason why a captain of the Sorcery Eradication Department and a team from the Third Legion can't capture a single monster. Are you that incompetent?" This time it was Lahar that spoke from one of the lower seats in the courtroom.

"It's Captain Ultear to you, you filthy observer. Besides, you are the one that failed to inform us that there were citizens with him. How about you start doing your job before you begin questioning those in positions above you. And another thing, what are you doing approaching the Target? You are to observe and report, not observe and mingle over a cup of tea," retorted Ultear with venom dripping from her words.

"That's enough! This is my meeting, and I will not allow this petty sidebar on who is better than who! If you truly want to know, take it outside and dual it out like any sensible person would!" bellowed the voice from before. "Captain Ultear, finish your report."

"My apologies Council Member Org. As Agent Lahar mentioned, there were three citizens with him. However, we were not expecting the additional personnel and the team from the Third Legion thought it wise to split its troops in order to deal with additional personnel. Two went after the Salamander and one went after the three citizens. The plan was to move the three citizens to safety, but that plan quickly derailed when Kageyama was hit in the face with a frying pan," Ultear spoke in an official tone.

"Wait what? What caused the plan to derail?" interrupted Council Member Leiji.

"A frying pan," Ultear reiterated.

"How did a frying pan..." Council Member Leiji tried to finish, but was interrupted by Council Member Org.

"Will you just let her finish giving her report! I'm sure she will answer your questions if you didn't butt in!"

"As I was saying," Ultear paused to collect her thoughts. "One of the civilians used a frying pan and smashed it across Kageyama's face. Which in turn pissed Kageyama off and he pulled out his machete."

"Oh gosh, don't tell me he chopped them up!"

"What did I say about interrupting!"

Ultear gave a silent sigh, "No he didn't kill anyone, he didn't get the chance to. The Salamander sent an arrow into his heart, killing him instantly."

There was an audible gasp across the courtroom and the audience present started whispering amongst themselves. It was pretty rare to hear a report on where a member of the Third Legion was killed.

"However, Kageyama was not Salamander's first victim. Karacka was killed after the Salamander shot him out of a tree, causing him to fall and break his neck on impact. Karacka was the first one killed, probably less than a minute into the encounter. Kageyama was killed about a minute later. Erigor was then promptly killed after trying to sneak up behind the Salamander while he was focused on Kageyama. Erigor struck the Salamander with his sword, but they both quickly ended up on the ground before the Salamander drove a knife into Erigor's side and into his heart. The whole encounter lasted less than five minutes." Ultear finished her report.

The silence in the courtroom was deafening. It was rare to hear about the death of a member from the Third Legion, but completely unheard of to hear about a whole team being killed, and so swiftly at that.

"Council Member Org, what are we to do about this? We can't let word out to the populace that one person killed an entire team from the Third Legion!" Leigi did little to hide his nervousness.

"This isn't the first time that a team from the Third Legion was completely killed off," Maser Org responded.

"In fact, it's not the first time that the Salamander he killed an entire team," added Ultear.

"You're telling me, that this monster has encountered the Third Legion before, and has killed them every time?" questioned Master Leigi.

"Killed or incapacitated them," answered Lahar. "He doesn't like to kill when he can avoid it. In fact, he always lets the backup squad go, as long as they don't try to join in the fight that is. If he isn't threatened by someone, he doesn't attack them."

Lahar was now making his way to the floor so that he could be more easily seen and heard.

"After months of observing the Salamander, I've come to a couple of theories. First, he wants to exact revenge upon the Council and the Kingdom. He believes that we have wronged him, and he will not quit until he gets what he wants, it's not in his nature. Second, as I mentioned before, he only fights when threatened. He never throws the first punch. You could be his enemy, but he will allow you to approach him and just talk, and then he will let you walk away. But, if you make the slightest movement to attack him, he will annihilate you. I saw it happen to some woodland thugs. They tried to trick him into lowering his guard, but as soon as one worked his way behind him and tried to strike him..." Lahar trailed off at this point, as if frozen in thought.

"What happened?" came a small voice out of the darkness.

Lahar looked up at the council members with a faraway look in his eyes, "They were all disintegrated."

Shock spread throughout the room, as what was just said sunk in.

"He turned them all to ash. He never blinked an eye, he never turned around. He was eating some bread and then all of a sudden, a huge wave of fire exploded out of him. I don't know how he does it, but the five thugs were turned to ash but the rest of the camp was left untouched. After that, he just continued eating like nothing happened."

"Impossible! You've lost your mind, when was the last time you had a psychiatric exam?" another voice cried out from the audience.

"This isn't something that I can make up! I was there, I witnessed it! I have the burn scars to prove it!" Lahar began pulling his shirt off to show the burn scars across his body. "I was observing not twenty meters away! The heat was unbearable when it first struck me, but instantly cooled even though I was still wrapped in flames. It was as if he had control over what burned and what didn't. The Salamander then called out to me, 'I know you're there. I could have turned you to ash, just like I did these guys, but I suppose you don't pose a threat right now. Feel free to report back to the Council what you've seen here, and let that serve as a message.' When I asked him what message it was suppose to portray, he simply stated 'revenge' and then he invited me to the table to eat with him. It was the weirdest thing ever."

"Sounds like you admire this monster," it was Master Leiji this time.

"I don't. I don't think you understand how badly I want this guys head, but nothing can ever approach him without being him knowing. Which leads me to my next theory, his senses are extremely enhanced. He always knows where I am, he can pick up smells for miles, his hearing is so keen you can snap a twig in the woods and he can give you distance and direction to that exact twig. His eyesight is that of a night owl. His ability to see the smallest details from a distance, at night mind you, is unmatched. He can feel the slightest change in the atmosphere when anything moves around him, I don't understand how his body doesn't go into sensory overload." Lahar finished while putting his shirt back on.

"There's one thing that concerns me, Master Org." A female voice rung out from the back of the audience.

"Who do you think you are addressing Master Org so flippantly? Show yourself!" cried out Leiji, but the figure was already approaching the center of the courtroom.

"Ah, Miss Scarlet! What a pleasant surprise, I didn't know you were in the audience. If I had, I would have insisted that you have sat up here with Agent Lahar," Master Org cooed.

"No worries Master Org, I am completely at home with sitting in the audience, but thank you for the gesture," Erza Scarlet bowed towards Master Org. "But if I may, there is one thing that concerns me. Why is the Salamander so keen on exacting revenge? What has the Council and the Kingdom done to deserve such treatment? Additionally, it sounds like if we just left him alone, he wouldn't be a threat to us. So why are we sending teams from the Third Legion after him? I have heard no reports of the Salamander harming any of our citizens. In fact I have heard multiple stories of how a man of fire has saved multiple villages from the orcs that are now running rampant across the land, or how he has stopped thugs in multiple highway attacks. There are many other reports of how this 'man of fire' is protecting people and conducting various good deeds. So again, why are we wasting resources on this man, and why does he help the people of this kingdom, yet he wants revenge on the Council and Kingdom?"

Erza fell silent, but the small chatter amongst those in the room discussing the idea of just leaving the 'man of fire' alone and why he could possibly want revenge could be distinctly heard all across the auditorium.

"Enough." Came the voice of Master Org, those present felt the authority that Master Org held resonate with the single word. "There is more involved than what any of you could hope to understand. If the Salamander is left unchecked and free to do as he pleases, then there is only a matter of time when others like him will rise up. After they rise up, they will think they can take advantage of people and extort communities for personal gain. No, we will not allow that to happen, we will make an example out of this fire monster, and that is final."

"That may be true, but why does he seek revenge?" questioned Erza again.

"Who knows the thoughts of a vile monster? This concludes today's meeting, the Council will reconvene tomorrow in the war room. Dismissed." and with that the audience stood and waited until the council members departed before following suit.

Some, however, remained in the auditorium and discussed the day's events amongst themselves. Erza made her way back to where she had remained during the earlier parts of the meeting, to where a small figure was standing.

"They are hiding something. I wonder what they are keeping from us." Erza was now standing with the small person, talking to her. "It would be to easy for the Salamander to just leave the country if he didn't want to be persecuted. I'm sure there are other countries that would except him for how he is, but why does he stay here? Why does he want revenge?"

Erza was too deep in thought to notice the young girl fidgeting where she stood, hoping that the questions weren't addressed towards her.

"Hm? Oh, look at me baring my curiosity to such a young girl," with that Erza rustled the girl's blue hair before making her way towards the exit, "Come on, lets go grab some strawberry cake."


	10. Chapter 10

_**So I want to apologies for no second update last week, but I am running out of chapters and don't have time to write more. So please bare with me as we go to one update a week (Sundays) for the time being.**_

 ** _Lastly, if this story seems to jump around a lot, and confuses people, please let me know. It's been about 5 months since I've first started and sometimes I confuse myself on what details I've already put out, and that's even after I've reread the previous chapters. If you left me a question in the comments section and I don't address it during the author notes, it's because it will mostlikely be answered in a later chapter._**

 ** _Thanks again and please leave a review!_**

* * *

 **Clackclackclackclack, clackclackclackclack, clackclackclackclack, clackclackclackclack.**

The sound of a horse drawn carriage grew louder as it approached Natsu from behind. Natsu simply reached up and pulled his worn woodland cloak deeper over his head. Underneath his cloak, he hid his bow and quiver, as well as his pink hair.

His unnatural hearing allowed him to hear the conversation between the driver and the passengers.

"There's a lone highway man up ahead," came a low gruff voice.

"You don't think he's dangerous do you?" questioned a soft feminine voice.

"Not sure. He doesn't look that tough," Natsu felt insulted, "but you never know," Natsu perked up a little, "there could be more of them," and Natsu was crushed again.

 _I'm not weak, I'm lean you bastard_ thought Natsu.

"Hey will you watch where you're going! You almost spilled my beer!" rang a third voice through Natsu's ears.

"Are you seriously drinking on the job, Bora! You're a member of the Third Legion, be professional!" yelled the gruff voice from before.

At that, Natsu stiffened a little and sighed, _great, not another member of the Third Legion._

"Relax, a little bit of alcohol is good for one's senses," the Legionnaire answered as the carriage began passing Natsu. "For example," the Legionnaire continued as he stuck his head out of the window and made eye contact with Natsu, "that guy right there, perfectly harmless. Wouldn't even be a match for you Gajeel."

The carriage slowed down incredibly, "What's that suppose to mean, you drunk?"

Natsu just stood along side the road and watched on as the carriage finally came to a halt, and a large man with thick black hair came into view, peering over the side to get a view of the drunk.

"Exactly as I said. That guy wouldn't pose any threat to the girl as long as I'm here."

"Not that part, the part after that!"

"Oh, you mean the part where even a person who isn't a part of the Third Legion could beat that guy?"

"Yeah! That part! Are you saying that I'm weaker than you?"

"Well, let's look at the facts. I'm a member of the Third Legion, and you aren't. So yes, I'm stronger than you." Natsu could hear the smirk in the drunk's slurred voice.

"You want to go right here, right now?! Just cause I refuse to join the Third Legion doesn't mean I'm not strong enough to beat a third wheel like you!" the man was now jumping off of the carriage and making his was towards his challenger, who still had his head sticking out of the window.

"Umm, guys," a blue head popped out of the second window, Natsu could tell it was the same voice as the female from earlier, "can we not do this right now? I just want to get back to the city."

"Of course," responded the man outside the carriage, all hint of anger gone from his voice.

"Oh, how cute! Your little lover coming to your rescue!" squealed the drunk.

"Eep!" blushed the younger girl with blue hair, "we aren't lovers!"

"Tck," was the only noise you could hear from the man as he got back on the carriage, "you heard her, let's go."

With that, the man got the horses moving again and the carriage continued on it's way, away from Natsu.

"Well that was interesting," Natsu mumbled with his head tilted to the side, before continuing down the road, following the same path the carriage took.

After walking down the road about three miles, Natsu could hear the distinct sound of fighting. The smell of the three travelers that had passed him earlier was strong, and so was the smell of blood.

Natsu quickened his pace, almost coming to a full run, sliding to a halt as he crested the hill and peered down at the mayhem.

A couple of bodies laid sprawled out on the ground, there were about thirteen guys standing in front of the carriage. One of the two horses that had been pulling the carriage laid in a crumpled heap on the ground, a couple of arrows sticking out of in it. The two men that had accompanied the carriage stood between it and the group of men. The bluenette was standing next to the man who was inside the carriage, out in front of the man who was driving the carriage.

"Bora! What is the meaning of this?! As a member of the Third Legion, this is below you!" shouted the driver.

"Oh shut up Gajeel, and did you actually believe I was a member of those goodie-to-shoos? I will never be a part of the Third Legion again, there is so much more money in the selling of slaves. Especially, cute ones like her," Bora pulled the girl closer to him. "I'm taking the girl , want to break her in before making some money off of her. I'm going to be leave you with these guys," Bora retorted while motioning with his hand, that wasn't holding on to the girl, to the guys behind him.

"Damn it," Natsu muttered to himself.

Right as Natsu spoke, he saw the man named Gajeel whip his head back towards Natsu and heard him mumble, "Shit, there's another one behind me."

Natsu was taken a bit by surprise. He was still a good three hundred meters from where Gajeel stood and it appeared that Gajeel had as good of hearing as Natsu.

"Besides," Bora continued, causing Gajeel to bring his attention back to the man that held the girl that he was suppose to be protecting, "it's not like there's a lot you can do, being outnumbered fifteen to one. I'm sure they will let you experience exactly what your girl is experiencing before they kill you."

"Like hell I can't do something," Gajeel muttered as he took a wide stance, as if to summon some unknown force from within, "Please forgive me, Levy. I never wanted you to see me like this."

Natsu was the first to sense the atmospheric change, and quickly put the man's statement and the situation together.

One of the larger bandits standing behind Bora, began running towards Gajeel.

"Oh no you don't," Natsu mumbled before dashing off down the road towards the crowd.

Closing the three hundred meters in mere seconds, Natsu leaped into the air, using the carriage as a secondary push off location to gain more height.

Gajeel, saw the large man approaching, but there wasn't much he could do. He knew the attacker couldn't cause any damage, but he couldn't fight back until his body gathered the power he needed.

Everyone was taken by surprise when a cloaked figure can crashing out of the sky and onto the large bandit.

Natsu had come flying over Gajeel's shoulder, crashing his fist into the attacking bandits face, and slamming him into the road. Dust quickly obscured the whole area.

As the dust cleared, the only thing people could see was the a small vague figure. As the dust cleared completely, it was obvious why the figure looked small. He was standing in a two foot deep crater.

Stunned silence grasped everyone.

"I know what you are," Natsu whispered for only Gajeel to hear, "and if you aren't ready to show her, then I'll take care of these guys."

Natsu could feel the sudden loss of power behind him, and he could help but smirk.

"I recommend releasing the girl," Natsu stated simply.

"Who... who do you think you are?!" cried Bora, his voice laced with nervousness.

Natsu began slowly walking out of the crater towards Bora and the girl.

"I am the demon in the night. I am the fear in the Counsel. I am the Salamander." Natsu's words brought trembling knees to all those in front of him, as he now stood a foot from Bora. "But to you, I am death."

With his final words, a wave of fire shot out from Natsu towards the bandits, quickly passing over Bora and the girl, but engulfed the bandits behind them.

The cries of the burning men haunted the air as Bora quickly turned and witnessed his men turn to ash.

Turning back to Natsu, Bora stammered, "What... what are... you?!"

With a wicked grin Natsu replied, "I am the equalizer," and with that he softly reached out and pulled the bluenette away from Bora.

"He's all yours," Natsu plainly stated as he stepped away with the girl.

"Wha...?" Bora tried to question before a large fist crashed into his face.

"Thanks for leaving this shit bag for me," Gajeel grumbled.

"But of course," Natsu grinned happily, "he threatened your girl. Obviously, it should be you that deals with him."

Natsu could make out the slightest blush on the man's face, but could definitely feel the heat radiating from the girl next to him as she tried to control her ever reddening face. Natsu simply shot her a friendly grin.

Bora was hardly back to his feet before he was doubled over with Gajeel's knee in his gut, and as Bora flew backwards, Gajeel was on him before he ever touched the ground.

Gajeel continued to beat the life out of Bora for another three minutes before Bora suddenly burst into flames.

"Hey! What was that for?!" Gajeel yelled as he turned his attention back to Natsu.

"Well, you obviously weren't going to finish him, so I figured I would," Natsu countered, before whispering the next part while pointing his head towards the girl beside him , "Besides, do you want her to see you kill the guy and think that you are a coldblooded monster?"

"Tck," was all the noise Gajeel made before standing straighter and crossing his arms across his chest, and then whispering, "I knew that."

"Anyways," Natsu spoke loudly, catching both of their attentions, "I'm going to get going now. You two have a safe rest of your trip."

At that, Natsu turned to continue walking the direction he was previously heading before being distracted by the fight.

After a few steps, a soft voice brought him turning back around.

"Umm... Thank you for saving us," came the quiet voice.

"Hmm? Oh, don't worry about it. Besides, Iron Man over there would have saved you," Natsu grinned before shooting Gajeel a knowing look.

"Eh?" was all the bluenette could respond with.

"Oh nothing," Natsu returned his attention to the girl, ignoring the death glare he was receiving from Gajeel. "Anyways, I better get going. I still have a long ways to travel."

Before Natsu could turn around, the bluenette spoke up again, this time with a little more confidence, "Do you need a ride? We can give you a ride, it's the least we can do!"

"Where are you all heading?" Natsu questioned.

"We are heading to the Royal City, but I'm sure we can drop you off where ever you need to go," the bluenette chimed.

With the mention of the Royal City, Natsu quickly turned his gaze onto Gajeel. The girl could tell that the two were sharing a conversation, but how they were understanding each other through all the nonverbal signs confused her.

"What are you all talking about?" the girl finally asked, fed up with the silence.

"Uh, nothing of importance. By the way, I'm Natsu," extending his hand to the girl, who graciously took it.

"And I'm Levy," she returned Natsu's smile, and then motioning to her companion, "and that's Gajeel."

"Well, it's nice meeting both of you. Are you sure it's ok for me to travel with you?"

"Why, cause you are a magic user?" Levy tilted her head in confusion.

"Uh, yeah," Natsu shrugged his shoulders, as if the statement was obvious, "Usually, people freak out, or try reporting me to the authorities."

"Well, to be honest, I was really scared at first, but since you helped us," Levy motioned to herself and Gajeel, who had made his was over and was now standing directly behind Levy's right shoulder, "I figured you couldn't be that bad of a guy. Also, we have no authority to arrest you, or report you to the authorities, because magic is legal in Alvarez," Levy concluded with a smile.

"Wait, you mean you all are citizens of the Alvarez Empire?" Natsu questioned.

"No, we are citizens of the Fiore Kingdom," Gajeel replied, and seeing the confusion on the pinkette's face quickly continued his explanation. "We are currently in Alvarez territory. We came here as part of a diplomatic party."

"Then why would you be so willing to let a known magic user travel with you into Fiore territory?" Natsu continued his questioning.

"Well, the way I see it," it was Levy who spoke this time, "as long as you don't use magic in Fiore, we don't have to report you."

Natsu made it obvious that he was thinking things through before agreeing to travel with them. "Ok, but if I sense and plotting or betrayal from you two, I'm out."

"Fine with me," Gajeel grumbled. "Help me unhook this horse so we can get going."

As Natsu and Gajeel bickered back and forth, neither of them noticed Levy walk a short distance away. Neither of them were paying enough attention either to hear what she mumbled next.

"I finally found him. I'll bring him back. I promise."


	11. Chapter 11

**_So for all those who suggest longer chapters or are saying it's about time we got to something actually happening... I completely agree. Sadly, with working 78 hours a week and being on call 24/7 that just isn't possible for me right now. Trying to balance work, calling home to the family, and working on getting everyone home, time is very limited. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy._**

* * *

Natsu had been traveling with Gajeel and Levy for a few hours now. The sun had set about an hour ago, but Levy insisted that she needed to get back to the Royal City. So Natsu was keeping Gajeel company on the driver's bench while Levy slept soundly inside the carriage, the road noise had faded to being merely background noise.

"So you're telling me that if I used my magic more often, it wouldn't take as long to conjure it up next time?" came the quiet gruff from Gajeel.

"Yeah, pretty much. I mean it's pretty much just like cutting down a tree or doing anything with manual labor really. Your muscles aren't used to a motion or a task so the first time you attempt it, you're slow and sluggish. After you've been doing it for awhile you become more proficient and complete that task quicker. It's the same with magic, except you also have to ove

rcome the mental block of believing that magic is evil," Natsu explained while keeping his eyes on where he was driving the carriage.

Gajeel fell silent as he thought through what he had just learned about the use of magic. After a couple of minutes, he finally spoke up again.

"Do you think you can teach me?"

"Hmm? Are you sure?" Natsu's concern showing in his voice. "What about the girl?"

"Yes I'm sure. I want to protect her, and I need my full strength if I want to accomplish that. Especially with how the Council is acting these days."

"What do you mean?"

"Shh, she awakes."

The hatch in the roof of the carriage leading down inside slid open and a little blue head popped out.

"Hey Gajeel," the tone in Levy's voice told the two drivers that she was a little shy about what she was going to say next, "do you want to pull over and set up camp for the night. I'm sure you are exhausted. Besides, I'm sure we are well within the Kingdom's border."

"Alright," was all Gajeel grunted before reaching over and taking the reigns from Natsu.

"Oh! Natsu, I forgot you were traveling with us!"

"Haha, no worries!" Natsu turned and gave the embarrassed girl a bright smile, "Uff!" Natsu turned around and held his stomach where Gajeel elbowed him, "Gosh, no need to be jealous man, or was that because I'm third wheeling and you wish you were alone with her," Natsu taunted load enough for only the man to hear.

"Tch. Get off and find us a place to make camp," Gajeel completely ignored Natsu's chide.

After about half an hour, the band of travelers were sitting around a small fire in a clearing less than a hundred meters off the road.

"Wow! This fire is really warm! I've never seen a fire built so quickly," Levy shot Natsu a sly smile.

With a small chuckle, Natsu grinned while scratching the back of his head, "Well it helps when the wood is really dry."

After some comfortable silence, Levy spoke again, only much softer this time.

"Hey Natsu?"

"Hmm?" Natsu looked up with bread hanging from his mouth.

"Can I ask you something?" Levy never looked away from gazing into the fire, and before Natsu could answer she continued, "Why did you save us?"

Natsu swallowed the food in his mouth before answering, "Well to put it simply, cause you all were in need. I don't like when innocent people are hurt."

"But we've done such terrible things to you," Levy whispered.

"Sorry, what was that? I didn't quite hear you," Natsu leaned in over the fire, acting like he hadn't heard what she said.

"Oh nothing! Nothing!" Levy looked up at Natsu, waving her arms wildly in front of her.

Natsu leaned back on the log he was sitting on, still eying the bluenette who sat across the fire from him. He glanced over to Gajeel, only to see that he too was eying the girl, however, whether it was suspicion that Natsu saw in the man's eyes, or pure admiration he did not know.

"Anyways," Levy continued, "what I really wanted to ask you was how did your fire pass over me without burning, but it turned the others to ash?" The confused look on her face told Natsu that she had been thinking about this for some time now.

Levy's question must have been interesting enough for Gajeel, because now he too was now focusing on Natsu as if he had been wanting to ask the same question also.

"Well, you see," Natsu looked up at the stars, "conducting a control burn takes a lot of practice. It probably took me about," Natsu paused and started counting off his fingers, "It probably took about four years to master that."

"Four years?!" Levy repeated.

"Yes, but how did you do it," interrupted Gajeel. This subject obviously had his full attention.

Natsu sighed, "Ok, but I'm only telling you all this cause I feel like I can trust you," Natsu looked Gajeel squarely in the eye, "So as you can probably tell, fire is my specialty. I have mastered the element of fire, but that isn't the only thing I can do. I've also been taught to use other... elements." Natsu paused here considering how much he truly wanted to reveal.

It wasn't common for Natsu to talk about himself, or magic, so getting to talk about something that he loved, one could understand how he could get excited and just ramble on to someone who gave a listening ear.

Figuring that he could tell a little bit more about himself, Natsu continued, "Here, how about a little demonstration, it might explain things a little better than me trying to use words alone."

With that Natsu stood and held out his hand, palm skyward. "So, like I said, fire is my strongest element," with that a small fireball formed hovering above his palm, "but, in order to have fire, you have to have fuel."

"You mean like wood or something flammable?" Levy interjected.

"Not quite," Natsu smiled, "I'm talking about something more basic than that. I'm talking about oxygen. Air." A small breeze blew past the campers and the fireball begun to spin, soon turning into a pillar, a small fire tornado.

"So you can control the wind also," Gajeel stated unimpressed.

"To a point," Natsu answered, "It took time and some patience, but I had a good teacher." The fire tornado was gone and it was just a small fireball again, but now the fireball started to float away from Natsu's palm and towards Levy, "But, to answer your question, Levy, I created a thin layer of air void of combustible gases between you and the fire," the fire was now floating in Levy's palms, as she used both hands to cup the fire, "I can also change the temperature of the flames, but there is only so much heat I can remove from it while maintaining the flames. Even at it's coldest sustainable temperature, it will still burn anything it touches unless I create that air barrier."

With the conclusion of his demonstration, the fire in Levy's hands dissipated into the night.

"That's amazing," Levy's awestruck expression looked back to Natsu, "What else can you do?!"

"Hold on now," Natsu chuckled, "I can't go telling you everything about me. Besides, technically you two are still strangers to me."

Levy huffed, evidently sad that she couldn't learn more about the mysterious unknown, while Gajeel was obviously wanting to go test out his own magic and see what he could learn.

"So, how about you tell me a little bit about yourselves. I know you come from the Royal City, but I've revealed some personal stuff, so how about it? Why are you so calm around magic?"

"Hmm," Levy brought her finger to her lips as if she was thinking, "I don't know, I mean I always found magic fascinating, I guess." Levy was now looking at Natsu, her hands in her lap, "At first, growing up, when I heard the horrors of what someone capable of using magic could do, I was terrified. Then once I joined Council as a secretary, I heard more stories about magic users that were fleeing the Kingdom, but the mages' actions varied from evil to actions of good. That's when I started to do some research of my own and reading up on what we know about magic, which isn't a lot mind you, and just about everything we do know is locked away under guard and key in the Forbidden Archives."

Just like Natsu had done when he talked about magic, Levy now got carried away and excited, so she simply continued talking, forgetting that she was talking to one of those mages from her stories.

"It took almost a year, but I finally managed to become one of the trusted secretaries and given practically free access to anywhere in the Council Hall, so of course I went to the Forbidden Archives. Unfortunately, that place was still off limits and the guards wouldn't let me in, until I met this guy!" at that, Levy elbowed Gajeel in the side and gave him a big smile.

Gajeel simply blushed, folded his arms across his chest, and looked away.

Levy continued, "So after Gajeel let me in, I started looking around and a lot of what I found disturbed me."

Natsu had always been paying attention, but this really caught his attention as he leaned forward a little more.

"I started finding really disturbing reports. Reports made by the Royal Army, talking about how they burned entire villages, killing just about everyone there looking for children that could use magic. Those reports are a little dated, ten to fifteen years maybe," Levy never noticed the grim expression that sat upon Natsu's face as he recalled what happened to his home.

"I mean, I could kind of understand because of how much grief I had been raised to believe that the mages caused us, but what really caught me off guard was when I read the report of how they had captured two young teens, a boy and a girl. Apparently, the boy was a mage that they had been trying to track down for years, but the girl was just an innocent bystander. The boy had fought back and killed a good number of the Royal Army, but once they overwhelmed him and cut him off from the girl, they used her to subdue the boy. Once they had the boy in custody, they nearly beat him to death and then they beat the girl in front of him. They burned down his house that was in a tree and beat his pet cat," Levy was weighing her words more carefully now, she didn't want to enrage the mage sitting in front of her.

"After that, apparently, they took them back to Council Hall and threw them in prison, where they were beaten for about a month. However, the boy escaped and tried to rescue the girl but they threatened to slit the girl's throat if he tried to save her, so he reluctantly left vowing to return for the girl," Levy leaned back, satisfied with her story, well, almost satisfied.

"That last part wasn't in the report though," she saw the confused look cross Natsu's face, "yeah, that last part I got from the girl herself, she still lives locked away in the Council Hall. They are hoping to use her as bait and entice the young fire mage to return. I believe her name is Lucy, the Salamander's Achilles' heel?" She didn't need to see Natsu's face to recognize that her story hit home, she could feel the heat radiating from his body.

Levy smiled to herself. _I got you now_ , she thought. Now, she was satisfied.


	12. Chapter 12

It was an early morning for the young household page. Though she was used to the unnatural hours of her Legionnaire, this morning started a little different. For one, the Legionnaire woke her up which was very uncommon unless they were out in the wilderness, but here in the Royal City, she was always the one waiting for her Legionnaire to awake.

The Legionnaire awoke the young girl by placing her hand over the girl's mouth, and holding a finger to her lips to indicate that she was not to make a sound.

The young girl got dressed in silence while her knightly dressed Legionnaire awaited by the door. She would have been more timid in getting dress, if she already spent multiple months with the red haired knight.

Once dressed, the knight nodded in approval before turning to the door and quietly opened it. Once confirming the hallway was clear, the two exited the room and made their way winding through the passageways to the courtyard, refraining from taking the suspiciously busy hallways for such a time at night.

After walking through the lusciously green courtyard, the young page followed her knight towards the stables.

"If I had known we were leaving, I would have had the horses already prepared, Ms Scarlet" whispered the young page.

"No worries," the Erza whispered in return, "I wasn't planning on leaving so soon, but a situation has arisen."

"What kind of situation?" questioned the blue haired page, knowing that the Legionnaire is not obliged to answer their Care's questions, "If I may ask."

Erza, never being the one to treat those that served her as underlings, answered, "I'm not entirely sure what it is, but the Council and the leaders of the Royal Army have become extremely busy tonight."

Turning to look back at her page, Erza finished, "It's not like them to be running around this late at night."

"I still don't understand what that has to do with us, or with the Legion," countered the young page.

"Neither do I," at this point Erza briefly paused, "but they are locking people back in their rooms and are doing room to room searches and I don't like that."

The young girl sighed and hung her head as she followed her knight, "In other words, you don't want them finding out what kind of books you read."

Erza stiffened, "Shh, just think of this as training for stealth operations."

The young girl shook her head, but couldn't hide the small smile at making her Lead blush.

"I need to talk to someone before we leave, follow me."

With that, Erza deviated from the course towards the stable and made towards a small shack like entrance near the bottom of a hill. Even though the stable and the shack entrance were within eyesight of each other, there was at least a good mile between the two.

Erza and her Care approached the two guards posted outside of the shack entrance.

Upon noticing the approaching duo, the guard closest to them began walking towards them.

"Halt! Who goes there? This is a restricted area!" bellowed the first guard, "Oh, it's you Captain Scarlet!" The guard presented the Legionnaire a crisp salute, "I apologize, didn't recognize you. May I ask what business you have here at such a time of night?"

Erza returned the guard's salute and walked back towards the entrance with him, "No worries Logan, I just need to talk to Legionnaire Major Jellel. Is he still inside?"

"Yes he is. He is still questioning some prisoner if I recall correctly," at that Logan unlocked the wooden reenforced door, and opened it for the Legionnaire and her companion, "I do believe he is in cell block S."

"Thank you very much, and tell your wife that I say 'Hi' will you," Erza called back as they made their way into the earth using the stone steps that appear to have been chiseled out of the earth itself.

"I never like this place, the air is either extremely moist, or extremely stale," the young page spoke up. Mumbling the next part she added "It tastes terrible," while scrunching her face up and sticking out her tongue.

"It may feel disgusting, but no better place to keep the enemies of the Kingdom," Erza answered, just prior to knocking on the wooden door at the base of the stone stairway into the abyss, "We don't want a repeat of what happened a couple of years ago."

They could hear movement behind the door, then a small peep hole appeared in the door with a guard on the other side. Without any words being exchanged, the guard closed the peep hole and unhatched the door, opening it and letting the two enter into the well lit entry.

"Good evening, I am here to talk to Legionnaire Major Jellel," Erza showed the two guards her Third Legion emblem.

"He's down in cell block S," answered the guard half aloof, never once looking up from the book that he was reading.

"Thank you," replied the knight as she walked past them and into one of many passageways.

"I wonder who Master Jellel is with," whispered the young girl.

"Must be someone important. You don't just put anyone into cell block S, nor does a Legionnaire Major usually question just anyone." Erza informed her Care.

Erza continued to guide her Care through the maze like corridors. Every now and then she would point one of the many hidden traps out to the young girl.

After what seemed like an hour of walking down numerous walkways and through multiple access control points, they finally arrived at their last security check point. The atmosphere at this checkpoint was extremely different from the one that was at the base of the stairs.

Here the were six heavily armed guards, four stood guard while two slept in a room off of the side. Everyone was on alert and none were reading books or papers like the majority of the guards at the access control points were. No, there was definitely a sense of security here.

"Legionnaire Captain Erza Scarlett and her Care," Erza displayed her emblem to the guards, "We are here to see Legionnaire Major Jellel Fernandez."

After looking through some documents, presumably the authorized access roster, the guard at the desk signaled to the head guard.

"Roger, would you like to be accompanied?" the head guard asked prior to unlocking the iron door.

"No thank you, I believe we will be fine on our own." Erza and her Care walked through the door and listened for it to be locked behind them.

The air here was different, it was more controlled, as if it could be sucked out of room at any given time.

Erza began walking down the main corridor, stopping at the fifth hallway on the right, "This way."

They came to open room. Not much furnishing, a couple of chairs sat around a table, some small counter space along the right wall, but everything seemed to focus on the giant window that ran the length of the left wall.

The two moved to the window, peering down into the room below.

It was now obvious that the room they were in was an observation deck. The room below was furnished as a prison cell, a permanent style prison cell. The bed was still small and looked uncomfortable, but there was also one chair and a small table inside as well, along with a small chest that could be used for storing clothes. On the other side, there was a giant mirror, behind which hid another observatory room. Obviously, these cells were for the more permanent party.

However, furniture was not the only thing in the room. Two figures moved down below. One with blue hair and wore the overcoat of a Legionnaire, the other had brown hair, feline type ears on his head, and black dots surround his right eye.

After a few minutes, the Legionnaire down below left the room. As soon as the iron bar door closed behind him, the remaining occupant in the room began going berserks.

"Captain Scarlet, what a surprise to see you. What can I assist you with?" came a voice from the room's entryway.

"I came to seek some council, Major Fernandez, but first, who is the man below?" Erza turned towards her fellow Legion.

Walking over to standby Erza, Jellel filled her in on the prisoner below, "He goes by the name Jackal. He is a dangerous mage. Possess the power of bomb magic, causing just about anything he touches to explode."

"But the lacrima crystals embedded around the cell prevent him from using magic," Erza finished.

"To be more precise, they suck magic out of the area if he attempts to use it," corrected Jellel, "But surely, you did not come all this way to talk lacrima."

"Indeed I did not," turning towards her Care, Erza addressed the next part towards her, "Do you mind giving us a moment?"

With that, they young page bowed, "I shall take my leave," and exited back down the hallway that she came.

Once back in the main corridor, the young page started making her way down a little further. If anyone saw her, the would think she was just looking around while waiting for someone, but in fact, she knew exactly where she was going. Second passageway on the left from the very end.

Making her way down the passageway, she came to the iron bar door. Inside she found a teenage girl scribbling on some parchment at her table.

The girl looked to be about seventeen years old, no more than eighteen. She had blonde hair that reached just below her shoulders, and you could barely make out her brown eyes as they concentrated on her writing. Obviously, she wasn't expecting any visitors as she still wore her pink pajamas.

The young page brought her hands together in front of her, as if she was holding something, and then gently blew over her hands and into the cell.

Feeling a gentle breeze, the blonde teen closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, "Ah, fresh air." After the moment was over, she opened her eyes, noticing someone was looking at her. She practically jumped out of her seat with a squeak.

"Eh?!" it took the blonde a second to realize who was standing on the other side of the door, "Wendy?! Wendy!"

"Heehee, hi Lucy," the young page waved back.

 **So this completes Chapter 12. For everyone's clarification, it was Wendy that was in the auditorium with Erza a couple of chapters ago, not Levy. We will continue with Wendy and Lucy in the next chapter. We shall see where that takes us. Thanks for reading!**


	13. Chapter 13

"What are you doing here?! It's been so long since I've seen any of you!" Lucy was ecstatic as she came over and gave Wendy a hug through the bars, then pulling away, "Wait?! They didn't capture you too did they?! I thought we hid you?!"

Wendy gave a small giggle, "Don't worry, if I had been captured, I wouldn't be on this side of the door."

The relieved look on Lucy's face was quickly replaced with a look of confusion, "Then what are you doing here?"

"I work for Legionnaire Captain Erza Scarlet. I tried to infiltrate the Council in order to find you, but Erza recruited me into being her Care. We thought it would set us back a little bit but I found you earlier than we expected," Wendy shot her long lost blonde friend a smile.

"You infiltrated the Legion?!" the shocked expression told Wendy everything, "Wait, what did you say 'us'?"

"Yep, 'us' as in Natsu and I," again Wendy beamed back at her trapped friend.

With that, Lucy began to panic, "Natsu here? Oh gosh, no! I can't let him see me like this, not after all these years!" Lucy was frantically running around pulling clothes out of her clothes chest.

"Uh... Lucy?"

"I can't let Natsu see me for the first time in three years while wearing pajamas! That's just embarrassing! Ah! What about my hair, I've got bedhead! And my breath! I need to brush my teeth!"

Wendy couldn't help but giggle as she watched the half dressed blonde hop around from one thing to another, but she soon felt terrible about what she had to do next.

"Uh, Lucy," Wendy whispered to no avail. "Lucy," Wendy tried a little louder, still to no avail. "Lucy!" she finally cried out, getting the blonde's attention, her toothbrush hanging out of her mouth as she stopped brushing her hair. "Natsu... Natsu's not here. Not yet anyways," Wendy was now staring down at the ground refusing to make eye contact with the blonde. Wendy felt bad. She hated being the bearer of bad news.

"Oh... of course not, it's too quiet and peaceful," Lucy tried to smile. She didn't want to see Wendy sad. "Anyways, I'm just glad that I finally got to see someone I knew from before they locked me in here. How did you get in here again?"

"I'm with Legionnaire Scarlet. She is in one of the other cells talking to Legionnaire Captain Fernandez, so I don't know how long I have before they come looking for me." The look on Wendy's face turned to one of concern as she continued to talk. "Lucy, we miss you, but please stay strong. The people at the top are starting to make their move. They are tired of Natsu roaming freely and they are thinking of using you as bait to lore him out. They hate him so much they call him Salamander instead of using his real name!"

"They can't do that! Wendy, you have to keep Natsu safe and keep him from doing something stupid. I don't want anyone getting hurt over trying to rescue me, I'm not worth it," Lucy was squeezing Wendy's shoulders trying to drive home her plead.

"I wouldn't say that around Natsu," Wendy sighed, "you know how he would do anything to save his friends."

"I know, but trust me on this. It's not like I've been over here doing nothing either. I've made some contacts, some friends, and I think they are willing to help me get out of here. It's just going to take some time, that's all," Lucy spoke with such confidence, Wendy couldn't help but believe her.

"I believe you," Wendy whispered, "I can't wait for all of us to be back together." Tears were fighting to fall from her eyes.

"I know, me too," Lucy wrapped her arms around the young girl the best she could. "How's Natsu been? What's he been up to?"

"I'm not really sure. I haven't seen him in almost a nine months, to be honest."

"Oh, so it's been awhile for all of us, huh," Lucy trailed off.

Wendy quickly glanced back over her shoulder, "Shoot, we've run out of time."

"Wendy, what are you doing back here?" Erza had materialized out of the darkness.

Wendy turned and made a quick bow, "I was looking around while waiting, and I happened to come across this lady. She was writing and once she realized I was here, she wanted to know what I thought about a story she was writing," finishing without missing a beat.

Lucy tried to hide her surprise in how quickly the young liar had created their cover story.

"Oh? What did you think of her story?" Erza questioned further, it was unclear to Lucy if the question was out of interest or trying to catch a lie.

"I thought it had a nice plot, different then the original fairy tail stories one reads. This one is how a young princess lived happily with a dragon, but she was kidnapped by a king. When the dragon came to save her, the entire kingdom believed the dragon was there to steal what was theirs when in fact it was the kingdom that was in the wrong," Wendy finished.

Erza's expression was one of doubt and Lucy could tell that she wasn't convinced.

"Apparently, there is suppose to be some smut at the end after the dragon saves the princess, but she hasn't figured that part out," the liar added.

At that the Legionnaire's expression changed and her face started to slowly turn pink, "Well, we don't want to interrupt. I'm sure it will be a fine story, I look forward to reading it." With that, Erza turned to face back down the hall, coughed, and added, "Come Wendy, we have our next assignment. We are to make towards Alvarez and link up with a small contingent from the Council's delegates. Apparently, they have some information on how to defeat the Salamander and have been targeted by some bandits and thugs in order to get that information. We are to ensure that the information they have returns to the Council," with that, Erza walked away.

Wendy and Lucy remained where they were, shocked and confused.

"Information on how to defeat Natsu," Lucy repeated,"But, we were suppose to be happy together forever... they... they can't do this to us."

Wendy turned to see the blonde slumped on the floor, "Don't listen to them Lucy, Natsu is too strong for them. He isn't the same person as he was three years ago. He won't let himself get caught. Please, stay strong. I have to go now, here have some fresh air. It should last for a couple of months." With that, Wendy made a small incantation before leaning through the bars giving Lucy a hug and running after Erza.

Wendy quickly came to a stop, "I almost forgot!" She turned and went back to Lucy. "Lucy, I almost forgot to give you this!"

With that Wendy reached into her jacket and pulled out some parchment, "It's from Natsu," she whispered.

Stunned, Lucy reached out and took the letter, before looking up into the smiling girl's face.

With that, Wendy once again turned and ran after Erza.

"Don't worry Lucy, no one can defeat Natsu. Not after all the training he has put himself through in order to save you," Wendy thought to herself, "I've never seen anyone as blindly in love as these two."

Wendy quickly caught up to Erza and silently fell in step behind her.

They silently made their way back through the musty passageways, fresh air slowly seeping through with every turn they make.

As they exited the underground prison, Erza made her way towards the stables they had passed earlier.

"Wendy," Erza firmly called out, causing Wendy to jump a little after growing accustomed to the silence, "I'll get the horses ready. I want you to go to the infirmary and see about acquiring any burn ointment. Then over to the armory and see about signing out some additional restraints, and make sure they have the lacrima in the cuffs."

"Yes ma'am, I will take my leave," Wendy broke off and headed towards the castle.

Before she was too far, Erza called back to her, "Be back in an hour, we need to get going before we miss our opportunity!"

As Wendy ran off, she couldn't help but think that this was in preparation for capturing her beloved-brother. Why else would Erza be asking for burn ointment and magic restricting handcuffs.

Though concerned, and knew what may occur, she still made her way to the infirmary and after a brief conversation with the medic on duty, she was aloud to secure what ever medical supplies she required. Granted the Third Legion badge that she flashed the medic had helped expedite the conversation.

After thanking the medic, she slowly made her way back towards the stable, stopping to talk to people as she went. She didn't need to get back to soon, or Erza would know that she hadn't gone to the armory.

Her last stop prior to returning to the stables was a small corner of the courtyard out of site from passing guards. Once sure that no prying eyes were inquiring on her actions, she placed the box with the medical supplies on the ground and then swung her pack off her back and placed it next to the medical supplies.

Opening one of the side pouches, she started putting away the medical supplies. She a similar pouch on the opposite side once the first pouch was full of bandages. After both side pouches were stuffed, she opened the main pouch in order to finish loading the supplies, but before placing the remaining supplies away, she reached in and dug around the bottom of the sack for something.

After about a minute of searching, her fingers finally felt the feel of cold metal. Firmly grabbing hold, she pulled out the item she had been searching for.

She quickly filled the main pouch of with the left over med supplies and before closing it up she took the metal handcuffs and placed them on top.

After securing the pack and returning it to her back, she quickly made her way back to her knight.

When she returned to the stables, Erza was just placing a blanket over the back of the second horse.

"Ah, Wendy, you're back. Did you get what I requested?" Erza asked as she smoothed out the blanket.

"I did," Wendy responded, once more removing her pack and opening it so that Erza could see inside the main pouch, "I also took the liberty to pick up some additional medical supplies, as we were running low on some bandages and other ointments."

Erza briefly peeking into the pack, seeing the burn ointment and the magic restricting handcuffs on top nodded her approval to the little girl, "Very good. I apologies, I thought I would have been done preparing the horses by now."

Wordlessly, Wendy closed her pack before Erza could get a better inspection of the items and then took over where Erza left off and had the horse ready in what seemed to be a matter of minutes.

After collecting their belongings and securing them to the saddles, Wendy guided both horses out to where Erza was waiting under a nearby tree.

"Everything is ready when you are," Wendy reported to the knight.

"Very well," Erza went to her horse and mounted it easily, waiting for the young girl to mount her own horse before continuing, "Come, we head for Alvarez by the Western Road. If all goes well, we will meet with the delegate's contingents within two days from now."

Wendy didn't like the sound of that, and she didn't want to help her enemy any more than she had to, "I'm sorry. I'm not familiar with the Western Road, so will not be able to lead once we pass where the remains of the town of Mone rest."

"Very well," Erza was starting to trot towards the castle's outer gate, "You can lead until we arrive to the Burnt Woods that lay to the east of Mone, and then I will lead from there."

"Aye," was all the poor girl could respond with as she sped her horse forward to overtake the knight. The young guide tried to force the unwanted memory of what happened in the Burnt Woods to the back of her mind, but it was difficult.

A few years ago, the woods to the east of Mone were simply known as the Mone Forest. It wasn't until the year that Natsu and Lucy had hid the frightened bluenette in a hollow tree trunk the night the Royal Army attacked and Natsu destroyed a few acres of the forest, had the name changed to the Burnt Woods.

Rumor has it, nothing has grown there ever since. As if it has been cursed by Mother Nature and serves as a constant reminder to all who travel the Western Road the destructive power of those who tamper with the natural realm. Even in the hands of a young child, magic is to be feared and reported to the authorities.

 **So I'm not really sure how I feel about this chapter... there is a lot that I wanted to do, but it either didn't fit or just didn't follow logically. I also don't know about the last half either. There was obviously a place for me to end earlier but then the chapter would have been REALLY short and I didn't want to do that. Also not sure about the ending of this chapter either... If you didn't notice, the town of Mone is the same town as in chapter 5 where Natsu and Lucy first meet. Anyways, leave me a review, or go read Virtual Flame.**

 **Lastly, if you know any good NaLu fanfic, let me know, I'm running out of stories to read!**


	14. Chapter 14

**So, with my birthday a few days ago, and the fact that I am only a month away from finally heading home, needless to say, I was in a good mood. So without further ado, here is Chapter 14. Hope you all enjoy!**  
_

It was high noon as the carriage made its way down the cobblestone road. Natsu sat in the driver seat alone; Gajeel and Levy were inside. To be more precise, Levy was tending to Gajeel's injuries in which he sustained that morning. Natsu couldn't help but think back on Levy's shocked face and laugh.

 _"Why did you drag me out here so early," Natsu yawned deeply as he stretched his arms in front of him, "the sun isn't even up yet."_

 _Gajeel was holding onto Natsu's cloak and was literally dragging him through the woods._

 _"Cause you wouldn't get up," Gajeel grunted as if that explained everything._

 _"Well wake me up when we get there," Natsu accepted the reason and fell back asleep, letting Gajeel do all the work._

Thinking back, Natsu probably shouldn't have allowed himself to be dragged the five miles through the woods; now he would have to wear his other cloak seeing as a large hole was worn into the backside of his brown travelers one.

Natsu gave the horse on the right a small tap with the whip, keeping it from trying to stop and eat some leaves from a nearby tree.

"Hey now, I just gave you three apples not two hours ago!" Natsu huffed at the horse, after it had displayed its displeasure not eating. "You can have a break in another hour or so," Natsu finished before returning to his thoughts.

 _"We're here," Gajeel tossed Natsu into the little clearing._

 _Sitting up with his legs crossed under him, Natsu stretches again. His yawn this time turning into a groan at the end, "Already? Man, that was quick."_

 _"Whatever," Gajeel crosses his arms over his chest and turns his head, looking away from the man he just dragged five miles, "You've been out for about an hour, and if I didn't want your help I would have thrown you off one of the cliffs we passed."_

 _"Yeah yeah," Natsu grumbles. "So what's this about you wanting my help?"_

 _Gajeel glances over at the mage before he looks away again. It's obvious he isn't used to or even comfortable with asking for help as he mumbles something inaudible._

 _Or at least it would have been to anyone with out the senses of a dragon, but Natsu wasn't going to let the big brute off that easily._

 _"I'm sorry," Natsu grins, "What was that? I didn't quite hear you."_

 _"I said, 'I want you to teach me magic.' What? Are you deaf too!" Gajeel turns to glare at the pinkette, knowing full well that he was being toyed with._

 _"You want to learn magic?" ignoring the insult, "Why?"_

 _"Does it matter why?"_

 _"I don't want to teach a student who is only going to use it for personal gain or for evil purposes," Natsu crosses his arms in front of him as he stares back at the brute._

 _The two mages stare at each other for a couple of seconds, before Gajeel realizes that Natsu isn't going to budge until he is given a good enough cause._

 _With a huff, Gajeel turns his back on his fellow mage before stating quite confidently, "I want to be able to protect her."_

 _Natsu was stunned into silence, not because of the man's reason, he had already known why he had been dragged out here, but because of how quickly and confidently the man had given his reason. Natsu had been sure that it would've taken another three minutes before he was given the true intention._

 _Recovering quickly, Natsu conjured up a small flame and sent it towards his student._

 _"Shit that's hot!" Gajeel yelps as he jumps away from the flame, rubbing his backside._

 _"Rule 1: Always be aware of your surroundings," Natsu states while holding his finger up for the burnt mage._

 _"What the fu..?"_

 _"Rule 2:" Natsu interrupted, holding up his second finger, "Always be ready. You never know who you can trust, or who is your enemy."_

 _Gajeel had stopped tending to his burn and was now watching the culprit, watching for the next attack._

 _But it never came, instead Natsu stood and dusted his pants off._

 _"Now, before we continue any further, you must understand what kind of magic you use and it's properties," Natsu intertwined his fingers behind his head, "So go ahead, show me what you got."_

 _Gajeel relaxed a little, taking in a deep breath as he tried to conjure up his magic._

 _When Natsu saw Gajeel close his eyes, he was half tempted to attack him and yell something about Rule 2, but that can be later. Right now Gajeel just need to focus on one task at a time, especially since his magic has been asleep for so longer, it was going to take more concentration to activate it._

 _After a minute, Natsu grew bored, conjuring up three small fireballs._

 _Finally becoming frustrated with nothing happening, Gajeel grunted and opened his eyes. Looking over towards the fire mage, he could help but feel insulted._

 _There in front of him was Natsu juggling three fireballs, not paying any attention at all._

 _"Hey!" Gajeel yelled out, his frustration evident in his voice._

 _"What?" Natsu quickly returned his attention to his student, the three fireballs hovering in the air where they were left, "You finally get something?"_

 _With a deep growl, Gajeel turned and begun stomping away._

 _"Hey, metal fists? Where do you think you're going?" Natsu called out to his student, "The lesson isn't over yet."_

 _Without turning around, Gajeel growled out, "Well I'm done. It was a mistake asking for your help."_

 _"Well, you're never going to be able to protect Levy with those half-assed fists," Natsu replied nonchalantly._

 _Spinning around, Gajeel yelled back, "I don't need magic to protect her," lifting his left fist in front of him, "I can protect her just fine with... this?" Gajeel's anger turning into bewilderment as noticed his hand._

 _Natsu couldn't hide his grin, which only brought anger back into Gajeel's posture, even though his eyes shined with pure bliss._

 _"So," Natsu broke the silence, "Shall we continue?"_

It was late morning when the two mages returned to the camp and Natsu happily called out to Levy and waved at her when she turned around.

The smile on Levy's face quickly turned into one of worry as her mind finished processing that Natsu was carrying an unconscious Gajeel over his shoulder as if he weighed no more than a sack of grain.

"What happened?" Levy cried out as she ran to where Natsu was dropping the unconscious brute.

"Huh?" Natsu cocked his head to the side before realizing the question was in reference towards his unconscious student. "Oh him? Yeah, he thought it would be smart to fight some bear, as if it was some good method of training," Natsu was talking as if it was a no brainer, "Do we have any food left? I'm starving!"

"A bear?" Levy cried out once more, "Why would he fight a bear?"

"Yeah, that's what I said," Natsu turned around with a questioning expression, "I feel like this conversation is going to get repetitive. Now, about that food?"

"Natsu!" the tears in Levy's eyes made Natsu stop asking about food. Apparently, he wasn't going to be able to change the subject. "Why, why didn't you help him?"

"Come on now," Natsu walked back to where the crying bluenette was and crouched down, moving a hand up and began rubbing her back, "He is going to be fine. None of his injuries are that serious, he is just exhausted that's all. Besides, there's no way I'm going to start a fight with a bear, that's just stupid!"

Levy was no longer listening as she reached down and grabbed a hold of her bodyguard's hand, "Gajeel..."

Smiling, Natsu sighed, "That's one hell of an idiot you've got there," then standing before he continued, "Make sure you hold on to him."

Levy looked up into Natsu's smiling eyes with a questioning look.

"He may be an idiot, but he's your idiot," Natsu smiled.

Levy quickly whipped her head away, trying to hide her blush as she stared down at where her small hand held the larger hand of her companion.

Groaning, Natsu tilted his head back, "Man, if I had just taken it a little easier on him, I wouldn't have to be the driving today." Returning his gaze to the endless road before him, he muttered, "But it's worth it. At least now he can turn his arms into iron pillars."

Some movement ahead of the carriage quickly caught the pinkette's attention as it darted into the woods.

Slowing the horses down, he discreetly rapped on the carriage wall behind him, doing what he can to alert the occupants inside that something was afoot.

The carriage continued to move forward, only now, Natsu tried getting the horses to move faster, to bypass whatever plot was being spun around them.

Blood quickly splattered across the road as the carriage crashed to a halt and spun around.

Natsu had seen the attack, but not soon enough to cancel it. A blade of wind had flown from the tree line, killing the horse on the left bringing the carriage to it's crashing halt.

Natsu swung off the right side of the carriage, while grabbing his pack which contained his bow and quiver. Quickly stringing the bow and notching an arrow, he peeked around the corner trying to spot their attacker.

Inside, Gajeel was still unconscious and Levy was crouched beside him with a short sword. Her attention was constantly moving between the man laying beside her and the doors on either side of her.

Outside, Natsu had released two arrows practically simultaneously at one of their attackers who had charged from the tree line. The first arrow embedded itself into the assailant's wooden shield, while the second one embedded into his iron breastplate. The assailant never made it to the road.

"Levy?" Natsu called out, "Is everyone alright in there?"

The small voice of the bluenette filtered out of the carriage, "Natsu? Yes everyone's alright. What's going on?"

"Ambush, left side. Right side is safe," a thud interrupts Natsu's report, "Correction, right side is not safe. We're surrounded."

Natsu pulled the arrow, that had embedded itself into the carriage next to him, out and briefly examined it before tossing it aside and pulling his own arrow back and releasing it into the tree tops. He was rewarded with a solid thud of a body slamming into the ground. No where was safe from Natsu's vision.

A cold voice rung out from the trees where the initial attack came from, "Surrender now and we will let you live!"

"That's interesting," Natsu shouted back, "I was just about to say the same thing to you all!"

Peering back around the carriage, Natsu tried to locate where the voice was coming from. The glint of sunlight reflecting off of metal provided the archer his next target.

Releasing his forth arrow, he watched as it flew towards his target, only to see it get blown into the air.

"Like I said," the cold voice returned, "Surrender now. Your archaic ways are not match for a superior race."

"If you were going to let us live if we surrender, then why stop us in the first place?" Natsu called back, his mind racing to find a memory related to what he had just witnessed.

"Leverage," was the cold reply, "Give us the girl and you can be on your way."

"Leverage for what?" Natsu was stalling for time now, he didn't care what their reason was, they killed Torton the horse and he wasn't going to forgive them for that.

"Does it matter? You are wearing on my patience."

"Of course it matters!" Natsu yelled.

"To enact our revenge on the Council, now hand her over and you can leave, anything else will solidify your demise!"

After a short pause, Natsu shouted back, "Promise?"

A small gasp came from the carriage and Natsu knew that Levy had heard the whole conversation.

"I promise," came the cold response.

"Good," Levy's heart fell with Natsu's response, "then come and take her."

The next audible sound that Levy heard was the yelling and cursing of someone to the carriage's left, "That fucker shot me in the leg!"

Confusion swam through her head, she had been sure that Natsu had planned on handing her over while her protector laid unconscious; but Natsu's laughter seemed to tell a different ending.

"HA! There's your answer you bastards!" Natsu's voice rung through the air.

Before any hope could return to Levy's heart, the war cry of their attackers and the cold voice giving orders had her feeling sick again.

"Kill them! Kill them all!" ordered the cold voice, "Bring me their heads!"

Ten henchmen burst forth from the tree lines, six on the left and four on the right.

With the tree line being a hundred meters from the road, Natsu had thirteen seconds before the assailants were upon them. Thirteen seconds to release five arrows, bringing down three of the assailants on the right side.

The forth assailant came crashing onto the road only to have the end of the bow brought across his next, breaking it and leaving him paralyzed where he fell.

Turning, Natsu quickly brought the bow up, using it to block the downward blow from a sword. Falling backwards, the assailant fell on top of Natsu, keeping him pinned to the ground. A second assailant came and stood at Natsu's head, he wore an evil grin upon his face. He brought his sword up, ready to plunge it through Natsu's face.

As the sword reached it's peak and the swordsman began to bring it down, Natsu jerked the man pinning him down forward. The human shield cried out a deadly screech, slowly turning into a deathly gurgle as the sword plunged through his body.

Rolling with the corpse, Natsu effectively rendered the second attacker weaponless, as the hilt jerked out of the man's hands and the sword remained embedded in the corpse's back.

Now that he was on his hands and knees, Natsu dove at his attacker, driving his shoulder into the man's gut, crashing to the ground and knocking the breath out of the soon-to-be dead man. Straddling the man's legs, the pinkette sat up, only to come crashing down on his prey, bringing his elbow across the man's face, and then bringing his elbow back the other way across the other side of the man's face, rendering the man incapacitated.

Picking up one of the abandoned swords, Natsu looked for his next target. That's when he noticed the carriage rocking, and then another death curdling cry.

Yanking open the door to the carriage, the pinkette's view was blocked by the bluenette's back. On the other side of the carriage was one of the assailants with the hilt of a short sword protruding from his chest. As he fell away from the carriage, he took the sword with him leaving the girl defenseless.

Just from taking in the situation, Natsu immediately knew what had happened, Levy used the element of surprise. Levy had positioned herself facing the door and as it opened, she rushed forward. The man wasn't ready for the attack and left himself wide open for the inexperienced diplomat to plunge the sword, hilt deep, into his chest.

With the next attacker rushing the door, Natsu stepped into the carriage, pushing Levy onto Gajeel, and then stepped out the opposite door. Bringing his sword up and across his body, Natsu blocked the slashing attack from the swordsman, but exposing himself as an archer released an arrow aimed for his chest.

As the arrow was inches from its target, Natsu brought his free hand around and swiped the arrow out of the air. Bringing the sword full circle, Natsu brought the sword up, catching the swordsman unguarded and practically cleaving the man in half, with the sword lodging itself in the man's spine.

Recognizing the unmistakable sound of a bow string, Natsu dives to the side as another arrow becomes a part of the carriage. Picking up the discarded arrow from earlier, he rolls to his feet preparing for his next attack.

However, what he is met with is a strong burst of downward wind, causing him to fall to one knee.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" the cold voice from earlier coos from a few feet away.

Working against the wind, Natsu lifts his head as he watches a man in a black robe holding a scythe float to the ground in front of him.

"You would make a great addition to my gang," an evil smirk spread across the hidden face.

"Yeah, and you would make a great addition to my bodycount," Natsu glares back.

"Now, now, there's no need for hostilities. I believe you an I want the same thing," the cloaked figure slowly lowered his scythe until the blade was level with Natsu's neck.

"You want me to remove your head from your body too? Wow, maybe we can be friends," Natsu smirked.

"Impudent fool!" the man removed his hood so that Natsu could see his face, "Do you not know who I am?!"

"Of course I know who you are," Natsu's eyes constricted with hatred, "Your'e the scumbag Erigor. The one going around destroying villages for mere pleasure."

"Yes, and you are the great Salamander," Erigor leaned in and whispered, "The one that the Council wants dead. So," standing back up, "what shall it be? Will you join me, or shall I do the Council a favor for once and end you hear and now?"

"How about neither?" With that, Natsu lurched forward with the arrow in his hand. The arrowhead had barely started cutting into Erigor's face before Natsu was slammed against the carriage behind him.

The sudden attack had surprised Erigor, but he recovered quick enough to send a giant and steady burst of wind at his attacker and pin him to the carriage wall.

Lifting his free hand to his face, Erigor felt his cheek where he had been cut. Upon pulling his hand away, he inspected the blood that adorned his fingertips.

"Why you..." Erigor brought his scythe up over his head, "I'll kill you right here and now!"

The scythe silently fell too the ground. Confused, Erigor looked over at the scythe laying on the ground, his hand still grasping the shaft. It took a minute to realize that his hand had been severed from his arm, but when he did, the wind shattered with a blood curdling scream.

Natsu fell to the ground just in time to see Erigor fly straight up into the air. Where Erigor once stood, there was now a knight with scarlet colored hair staring up into the sky, her sword had only a few drops of blood on it.

"Come down here," ordered the newcomer, "You must be punished for your crimes!"

"This isn't over!" cried Erigor as he clutched his arm. He had used his wind magic to stop his arm from bleeding. "I will be back," he cried as he flew away.

After watching Erigor fly away, Natsu turned his attention back to the new stranger, who had obviously done the same.

"And what is your story?" asked the female knight, "Friend or foe?"

Natsu was about to reply with 'Friend,' but quickly stopped himself when he saw the crest of the Third Legion adorned above the knight's heart.

"Neither," was his reply instead.

"Neither?" the scarlet lady raised her eyebrows, "Interesting. Explain," she ordered.

"I am simply a traveler, making my way home after months of being gone," Natsu stood and brushed the dust off of his grey cloak. It wasn't his favorite cloak, but it served it's purpose none-the-less.

"A simple traveler can't create such devastation," the knight countered, taking in the carnage around her, "What is your name?"

"I believe it to be impolite to ask one their name when you haven't given one your own," Natsu crossed his arms over his chest.

"Erza Scarlet, Captain of the Third Legion, now what is your name," Erza ordered once more.

"Nah, I don't feel like telling you," Natsu turned to the side.

"I gave you my name, now give me yours," Erza stepped forward.

Turning back towards his interrogator Natsu countered, "I never asked for your name, and I would have been perfectly fine without ever knowing your name, but you gave it to me freely and now that is a burden that I must bare. So again, I am not inclined to give you my name."

"Do you wish to die, boy!" Erza roared, rage evident in her eyes.

"I wish to be left alone," with that Natsu turned and walked back towards the open door to the carriage.

"Why you!" Erza walked forward bringing her sword above her head ready to strike.

"Captain Scarlet! You really shouldn't," cried out a small voice from behind everyone.

Erza stopped where she was, rage billowing off of her, and Natsu quickly turned around taking in the situation with keen eyes, ignoring the fact that there was a crazed women with a raised sword. Instead, he focused on finding the source of the familiar voice.

There she was, not too far from the edge of the road, holding onto the reins of the two horses. When their eyes met, the two of them couldn't help but smile, it had been so long since they had seen each other.

Levy emerged from the carriage, distracting Erza before she started becoming suspicious of the two.

"Miss McGarden, I didn't expect to run into you here," Erza's mood returned to normal, "I thought I was to meet you at the border."

"Ah, Captain Scarlet, what a surprise to see you!" Levy exclaimed loudly, followed by a question, "To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting a captain of the Third Legion all the way out here?"

"We received reports of an increase in crime along this road, and as a delegate for the Kingdom, we were dispatched to escort you. It appears that the reports weren't too far off," Erza again looks around and notices the pinkette and her Care over by the horses.

It didn't take long for Levy to notice the pair either, although it was a little easier since Erza stood between her and them. It didn't take much to sneak peaks around the tall redhead. In fact, Levy had even seen the odd pair share a too familiar of an embrace before Erza had turned around. If she had to guess, this wasn't the first time those two had met, but that was for another time.

Levy's attention was quickly returned to Erza as she started walking around, "Is it just you two? Anyone else? Where's Mr. Redfox?"

"Gajeel is in the carriage, he's currently unconscious," Levy answered, sadness evident in her voice as she lowered her head.

"What? Unconscious? He better have a good reason for allowing a delegate to be attacked! I will have him removed from protective detail in a heartbeat!" Erza stormed over to the open door in the carriage.

"Well, um, actually, he," Levy stuttered out.

"He was knocked unconscious after taking on three of the bandits at once. He just finished beating one or two of them before the other ones jumped him from behind. We tossed him into the carriage during a lull in the fighting, that way we could try and make a quick escape. That's when they killed our horse, stranding us here," Natsu interrupted.

He and the young bluenette, Wendy, had made their way over to where the other two stood. Levy staring at him with a confused expression on her face.

"But, I thought," Levy tried asking but Natsu quickly cut her off again.

"Do you really think a proud man like Gajeel, would allow any harm come to anyone under his protection?" Natsu quickly winked at Levy, "Gajeel did a great job, and these two make a great team. Removing him would be a disservice to the Kingdom."

Catching on to what Natsu was doing, she quickly mouthed the words, 'Thank you' to the quick witted pinkette.

"Anyways," Natsu continues, changing the subject, "We should get going, it's still a couple of hours until we reach the next town."

"Yes, I agree," Erza nodded her head and moved to where her horse was, "I will gather a full report of the incident once we find lodging."

It took a couple of minutes for Natsu, Levy, and Wendy to cut the carriage loose from the dead horse and then to set it up for a single horse. Erza watched the pinkette's every move, not trusting a man who refused to give his own name when she thought she asked so kindly for it.

Once the carriage was set and Wendy had remounted her horse, they made their way down the road. Erza Scarlet, the Legionnaire, led the way, with the carriage slowly following behind her, and Wendy trotting along side the carriage.

Levy sat with an sleeping Gajeel, trying her hardest to hear what the pinkette and young bluenette were talking about, not wanting to miss a single word about how Wendy had linked up with their friend and how that said friend was looking forward to seeing Natsu again.


	15. Chapter 15

**So this chapter is coming a day early. Things are getting crazy over here. Our replacements are finally starting to show up, but it's still another three weeks before I get to head home. Anyways, again, I don't know how much more time I have to write, so bare with me.  
** _

Night had fallen by the time the delegate's convoy arrived at the hill overlooking the small town. The flames from the street lamps dotted the town below, mirroring the sky above. It had taken longer than usual, but that should have expected with the loss of horsepower.

Gajeel had woken from his slumber and had taken over as the carriage driver prior to the sunsetting, and Natsu had dismounted and taken the reigns of the young girl's horse, allowing her to rest in the carriage without worry.

Levy had also exited the carriage and was sitting up on the driver's bench with Gajeel. Just like the younger bluenette, she too had fallen asleep, the difference however was her pillow had some metal studs poking out of it.

Erza had lead the entire way, stopping every once and awhile to tell the others to hurry up or they were going to be late. Late to what, she never did say. The only other time she had spoken to the group was when Natsu had offered to trade spots with Wendy so that she could sleep in the carriage. Erza had been adamant that the pinkette not be allowed to saddle the horse, so adamant that she even drew her sword as if ready to strike the still nameless stranger down, thus leaving the cloaked hunter to walk.

"We are almost there," Erza had turned to address her followers, "We will rest in Mone tonight and then continue in the morning."

"Hey, Shrimp," Gajeel gently awoke the bluenette sleeping on him, "Time to wake up, we are almost there."

"Shut up, I was never asleep," Levy yawned and straightened herself up.

"Are you sure?" asked Natsu, as he came up along side them, "Cause the drool tells a different story."

"Huh!?" cried Levy as she rubbed at her face.

"Ignore him. There's no drool, he's just messing with you," Gajeel glared at the jokester.

Natsu simply grinned at his two scowlers, "Speaking of waking, should I wake Wendy?"

Levy's facial features quickly softened, turning as if she could see through the carriage walls, "No, I would let her sleep a little longer, she looked exhausted."

"And growing girls need their sleep," Gajeel added, before elbowing his partner with a grin across his lips, "Isn't that right, Shrimp?"

"Yep, that's, hey! What's that suppose to mean!" Levy smacked the brute's arm.

"Hey! Cut it out!" came the commanding voice, that all party members had come accustomed to.

A silent moan rose from the group, all tired of the pure dictatorship of their unwanted guide.

"Now let's quick wasting time, the sooner I get this protection duty over with the better," continued the redhead.

"Well, I'm glad I could accompany you all this far," yawned the cloaked pinkette, "but I this is the end of this trip for me."

"Huh?! What do you mean? You're leaving us?!" forcibly pulled from her sluggish state, Levy was fully aware now.

"Yeah," Natsu shrugged, I told you all from the very beginning that I was only going to tag along for a short while."

"But you can't leave now... it's... it's too late, shouldn't you wait for morning?" stuttered the noticeably panicking bluenette.

"Uh, well actually, my stop was back at that last intersection, but I figured what could a few extra miles hurt."

"That was like twelve miles back," Gajeel stated.

"Twelve miles?! Why don't you just wait until morning?" Levy whispered.

"I really shouldn't, I really need to get back. You know feed my pet and all," Natsu pointed over his shoulder.

"No, you are currently under my protection and I will see to it that all of you make it safely to the Royal City" Natsu turned to look at Erza, the one that had spoken.

"Oh?" Natsu took a few steps closer, "and what if I'm not going to the Royal City? Then what?"

"It doesn't matter," Erza trotted over to where the cloaked man stood, "I am to escort the delegate and her party to the Royal City, and seeing as you were a part of her party when I found you. So, you are coming with us, whether you like it or not. Understand?"

"No, I don't understand," Natsu removed his hood so that he could see better. "I am not a part of this party, never have been. My journey ends here, and there is nothing you can do to stop me from leaving."

"There is a lot I can do to prevent you from leaving," Erza growled as she drew her sword.

"Threats don't mean anything to me," Natsu stood, defying the Legionnaire who was pointing her sword at him. "I've killed many a men who have threatened me or those that I have pledged to protect. What makes you think I won't add one more to my count?"

"So now you admit that you are a criminal. I shall bring justice to these lands and bring you in for murder."

"You really are a thick headed woman aren't you," Natsu rolled his eyes, "Murder? No. Selfdefense? Yes, and I wouldn't have to protect myself from thugs so much if the Royal Guard and the Third Legion started doing their job and serving the people of this kingdom instead of hunting down fairy tales of mages who may or may not pose a threat to said people?"

"Excuse me?" Erza sounded awestruck. She wasn't used to people arguing with her.

"Oh don't play dumb with me Captain of the Third Legion. I'm sure you've been around the lands as much as I have. I've read the reports. I've heard the rumors. I've seen the carnage of what you all do in the name of justice and preservation of the peace, all because you are looking for people that may or may not pose any danger, let alone exist!" Natsu's voice peaking as he spat the last bit, before calming down, "Ask yourself, does the Legion stand for what you thought it did when you first joined?"

After a few moments of silence, "Who are you?" questioned the Legionnaire.

"I am a free man, free from tyranny, and free from the Legion. I will be taking my leave." Natsu walked over to where Levy sat and hander her the reigns.

"You, you can't be seriously leaving right now, can you?" asked Levy as she took the reigns from Natsu.

"I am. Sorry, but I can't enter that town. Besides, you all don't need me for protection anymore, Gajeel's awake," Natsu smiled at the last part.

"Tch" was the only audible reply from the two drivers, the other was rosy cheeks.

"But, what about Wendy?" recovered the blushing bluenette, "Don't you want to say goodbye first?"

"I wouldn't worry about that," replied Gajeel.

"Huh?" Levy turned to face her guardian, "Why not?"

Gajeel continued to stare straight ahead, not making eye contact with his interrogator.

"Anyways, I will be taking my leave. I'm sure I will see you all again," Natsu backed away from the carriage, "Miss McGarden, it was a pleasure," Natsu bowed, "Gajeel," the two nodded to each other, before Gajeel steered the carriage towards the town. Erza again, leading the way.

Levy watched over her shoulder as the distance between the carriage and the mage grew, "Stay safe Natsu. Lucy is waiting for you," and as if he had heard her, Natsu gave her a small smile along with a friendly nod.

As the carriage disappeared, Natsu was joined by a second cloaked figure.

"Do you think we are doing the right thing leaving them?" asked the newcomer.

"Of course," replied Natsu as he stared down into the Town of Mone, "come on, it's time we get the family back together."

The new shadow visibly perked up, "You don't mean?!"

"But first, let's go get Happy and Carla," Natsu turned to look at the girl standing beside him. "I'm sure they've missed you a lot, Wendy," Natsu grinned as he patted her head.

"Then we get Lucy," Wendy grabbed the pinkette's hand and started tugging him towards the forest, "Come on, let's go!"

"Alright, alright," Natsu laughed and smiled, "Let's go home."  
_

 **Well there you have it!  
My vision for this chapter was mainly to focus around Natsu standing up to Erza and not letting her boss him around. That always bugged me in the manga, and to be honest, I actually had Natsu going down into the town with them, but then a new idea came to me while I was writing and at the last moment I had Wendy sneaking out of the carriage while everyone assumed she was still asleep... well everyone except Gajeel. Curse those dragon ears!  
Anyways, hope you all like it. Please review! It really is fun reading what your all's thoughts are. It also helps craft the future stories to be completely honest. Well until next time!**


	16. Chapter 16

I apologize for not updating earlier. Lots have happened in the last month or so, with finally coming home after 9 months in the Middle East, I'm getting married in a couple of days, and found a new place to live and call home for awhile. Luckily, I was able to type this out while waiting for my flight. Anyways, with being extremely busy as well as having writers block, all I wanted to do was read some good NaLu stories. However, a lot of the ones that I've read recently just aren't my type of stories. So if anyone has any good recommendations that would be great. Shout out to BeastlyTick59 for his suggestion of 'Another' by DemonHeart42, unfortunately, I binge read at night after work. Now back to the story.

"Ah! It's been so long since I've walked through these woods," Natsu yawned as he stretched his arms over his head, the shadows among them dancing across the trees as Natsu's fireball flew into the air with his sudden movements.

Natsu's and Wendy's cloaks wrapped around their bodies closer as a sudden gust of wind blew past them.

"Natsu, you got to be more careful with that!" Wendy chided her "older brother" as she manipulated the wind to guide the renegade fireball back to her.

"Hehe, my bad," Natsu gave the young girl a giant grin as he ran a hand through his hair, "but it's not like a little bit of fire would do anymore damage to this place."

Wendy's gaze followed Natsu's wild gestures. Sure enough the entire forest around them looked desolated. The flickering light from Wendy's hands provide barely enough light for them to make out the charred remains of once strong and proud trees of a majestic forest.

"I can't believe nothing's grown even after all these years," Wendy sighed.

"Come on, we're almost there," Natsu intertwined his hands behind his head as he continued walking into the dark abyss before them.

"Almost there my ass" Wendy mumbled to herself. They had been walking for almost forty-five minutes since they entered the charred portion of the forest and Natsu's 'almost there' comment.

"Wow! Wendy! Language," Natsu called out from in front of her.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Wendy bowed in embarrassment. "I'm just really tired and we've been walking for forEVER," She drawled out the last part as she hunched over.

Natsu walked back over to her and knelt down in front of her, "Come on, get on. I'll carry you," he grinned over his shoulder.

I had been another thirty minutes or so before Natsu arrived at the base of a giant tree carrying a snoozing Wendy on his back. Natsu had taken back the little fireball that Wendy had been carrying ever since he tossed it into the air.

"Wow... I'm surprised it's still standing," Natsu peered upwards at the tree.

"Halt! Who goes there!" Cried out a voice from above, hidden by darkness, "This place is protected by the curse of the blue devil! Return where you came from now, or you will never return at all!"

"Really? The curse of the blue devil? You're kidding me right, couldn't come up with anything better?" Natsu retorted, a grin spreading across his face.

With a downward gust of wind and a hard impact to his chest, Natsu staggered backwards a couple of steps.

"NATSU! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" cried the voice from before, only this time it was coming from his chest.

"Hey Happy! I've missed you too! I'd hug you back but I'm holding on to Wendy," Natsu grinned down at his little blue friend.

"And you brought Wendy home too! This is the best day ever!" Happy continued to cry.

"Speaking of Wendy," Natsu shrugged his shoulder trying to wake the girl.

"Five more minutes," she murmured as she dug her face deeper into the back of Natsu's scarf.

Chuckling, Natsu turned back to Happy, "We'll just let her sleep. She can be surprised in the morning when she wakes. How about you give me a lift?" Nodding towards the top of the tree.

"Aye!" And with that, Happy gently flew Wendy and Natsu to the platform hiding above and setting them down softly so as not to jar Wendy awake.

"Thanks buddy," the fire mage whispered as Happy settled on top of his head.

"I missed you, Natsu," Happy repeated while hugging the top of Natsu's head, occasionally alternating between 'I missed you,' and 'I missed you so so much.'

"Well hey, let me put Wendy to bed and then you and I can talk," Natsu walked towards one of the back rooms, only to reemerge into the main room a few moments later and closing the door quietly behind him.

"So Happy, tell me how everything's been?" Natsu settled himself into a chair and prying Happy out of his hair.

Settling into his best friend's lap, Happy replied, "Everything is going good, well, at least it was until about a month ago." Happy trailed off at the end.

"What happened?" Natsu pried once his friend didn't continue.

"It's Carla," Happy looked up into Natsu's eyes, "She's sick and nothing I've done has helped."

"Sick? What do you mean? What happened?" Panic beginning to edge it's way into Natsu's voice.

"I don't know!" Cried Happy, "She's always throwing up in the morning or when she smells something bad! She has these weird cravings for strange foods, but when I come back with them she no longer wants them! And don't even get me started on her weird mood swings!" Happy was hovering in front of Natsu making grand motions with his paws as he spoke.

"Man," Natsu shook his head, deep in thought, "That really does sound bad. Have you gone to find a doctor among the other Exceeds?"

"I would, but they live at least nine days away by flight, and I can't leave Carla here alone. She's too sick to make the journey too."

"Carla's sick?" Came Wendy's voice from the bedroom doorway, drawing the attention of both boys.

"Wendy?!" Natsu and Happy yelped out together.

"I thought you were out cold," Natsu continued.

Ignoring Natsu, Wendy repeated herself, "Did you say that Carla is sick? Where is she?"

"She's asleep in her room over there," Happy pointed towards another door.

Without a word, Wendy strode over to the door Happy had pointed at and entered, closing the door behind her.

"I hope Wendy isn't mad at me," Happy landed on the floor with his head hung low.

"Don't worry Happy," Natsu got out of his chair and crouch beside his buddy, "If anyone can heal Carla it's Wendy!" Natsu petted his blue cat's head.

Half an hour later, the door to Carla's room opened and Wendy stepped out.

Natsu was sitting cross legged on the floor petting Happy, who was sitting in Natsu's lap. When the door opened the two boys looked up, waiting to hear what news the young doctor brought with her.

"Happy," Wendy started, "there's nothing I can do for Carla."

Happy dropped his head, his shoulders going lax at Wendy's words.

"I hope you take responsibility Happy," Wendy continued quietly.

"Aye," Happy whispered, "I'll always take care of Carla."

"Good," Wendy smiled, "cause Carla's not sick."

Happy's head shot up, a look of confusion peering at the girl, "Huh?"

"Happy, Carla's pregnant. You're going to be a father!"


End file.
